Aaron Gordon “wanted to play so badly” in first-round series

Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty ImagesAaron Gordon badly wanted to play in the postseason. How badly?

“I can tell you that he would have played on one leg if we’d allowed him,” Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman told reporters on Monday.

A one-legged Gordon might have been better in Game 5 than his replacement Gary Clark (1 point on 0-for-4 shooting in 24 minutes). But Weltman said Gordon never quite reached a point where the Magic could clear him to play.

“AG was bouncing off the walls, man,” Weltman said. “That guy wanted to play so badly. Every day we would practice, he would have his own kind of regiment on the sideline with our performance staff and just try to ramp…