SAN ANTONIO _ Orlando Magic power forward Aaron Gordon will not play against the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday because he failed one of the final stages of the NBA concussion protocol.
Gordon has been in the protocol since March 8 and will miss his third consecutive game.
"It's pretty frustrating, but it's something that I can control," Gordon said after Orlando's shootaround at AT&T Center. "You've got this little card test that finishes the protocol. So I've got another chance at it tomorrow. But I always want to play. I always, always want to play. Too bad I can't play tonight. We'll see if I can play against Milwaukee tomorrow."
On March 7, Gordon collided with the Los Angeles Lakers' Julius Randle, and team officials said he started to have concussion symptoms after the game, including on the team's subsequent flight to Sacramento.
Gordon, who will be a restricted free agent in July, said he merely was suffering from a migraine, but his failure in the protocol's card test, which measures memory, casts doubt on his assertion.
If Gordon did suffer a concussion, as team officials believe, it was his third concussion over the last 23 months.
Tuesday's game figured to be difficult for the Magic (20-47) even if Gordon could play.
The Spurs (37-30) should be desperate.
Following a loss Monday in Houston, the Spurs are 10th in the Western Conference standings, with the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets ahead of them because of tiebreaker rules. If the season had ended on Monday night, the Spurs would have missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
The Magic have lost all four of their games so far on their five-game road trip, which started out West.
"If our guys are competitors, they will not look at this as the last game of a trip but (as) an opportunity to get a win," coach Frank Vogel said. "You never want to come to the West Coast and come back with an 0-fer, not come back with at least a single win, and this is our opportunity to do this."
