Winning Time Sneak Peek: Magic Gets Grilled About His Injury (Exclusive)

Magic might be taking a dip in an ice bath, but he’s definitely feeling the heat this week on Winning Time.

TVLine has an exclusive sneak peek at this Sunday’s episode (HBO, 9/8c), and in it, Magic is in the ice bath when assistant coach Pat Riley comes in to ask him how he’s recovering from his knee injury. Magic insists he’s at 90 percent, but Riley is more pessimistic, putting it at more like 50 percent. If the head coach finds out he’s still hobbled, Magic will have to sit out games, but “you need that run to get in shape for playoffs,” Riley reminds him. And Riley knows, because he used to play in the NBA, too.

Magic admits that “something ain’t right” with him since he came back from injury; he doesn’t feel like himself. Riley thinks he’s too caught up in his own head: “You can’t be out there thinking it’s gonna happen again.” But how does he stop thinking like that, Magic asks? “That’s simple,” Riley replies. “Stop thinking.”

Elsewhere in this week’s episode, titled “The Magic Is Back”: “Magic’s return threatens the Lakers’ new ‘system,’ and Pat Riley and Jerry West push for a risky trade. While Coach Westhead fights for his team, Jeanie clashes with her brothers, and a melancholy Buss attempts to court a figure from his past.”

Press PLAY above for a sneak peek at Sunday’s episode, and then dribble down to the comments and tell us: How are you liking Season 2 so far?