Major Setback for Playoff Hopes
Orlando, FL— The Magic, who are struggling to stay afloat in the Eastern Conference Playoff and Play-In race, can ill afford to continue losing games, and they did just that this evening, dropping their third game in a row tonight to the Toronto Raptors 104-102.
Jalen Suggs’ Injury and Impact
The Magic got heartbreaking news on Friday evening as Jalen Suggs suffered a setback in his rehab process and would be diagnosed with a trochlea injury in his left knee. NBA Insider Shams of ESPN later reported that Suggs would undergo surgery and be ruled out indefinitely.
Orlando has been struggling without Suggs who has missed 24 of the last 25 games where the team has won just eight of those contests.
Jamahl Mosley talked to reporters before tonight’s game discussing how he’s evaluated the team’s performance over that stretch.
“I think it’s been what our record has done, up and down a little bit because guys are still trying to find their way and what that looks like,” Coach Mosley said. “And like you just said, the uncertainty of a guy coming back and coming in and coming out — And now that you have clarity, it’s like you can have a level of consistency knowing what’s happening each and every single night when you’re on the floor.”
Before tipoff, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic spoke very highly of Jalen Suggs and his impact on the Magic:
“Basketball is a team sport, but one player can make the most difference,” Coach Darko said. “He’s so important for Orlando, on the defensive end, being a point guard, running around and knocking down shots — Missing him is going to be a huge loss for Orlando.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the postgame talked about how much this team is going to miss Suggs.
“He’s, you know, very important. He’s, he’s our point guard, starting point guard at that — He’s truly gonna be missed. You know, we talk every day. Try to like keep his head up. But yeah, he’s truly gonna be missed, especially on the defensive end.”
Toronto Takes Control of the Game
Toronto came out of the gates playing very well and applied a lot of pressure on the Magic, leading by as much as nine points in that first period of play. Rookie guard Jamal Shead provided a spark off the bench for the Raptors, scoring eight quick points as they led the Magic 27-19 after one-quarter of play.
The Magic responded nicely in the second quarter outscoring the Raptors 28-21 in the second quarter with contributions all around, especially from the starting five. Orlando was now settled into the game, and they built some solid momentum going into the halftime locker room as they trailed 48-47.
After Orlando made it interesting in the third quarter, Immanuel Quickley happened and stole the momentum right back in favor of the Raptors. IQ nailed a triple, followed it up with an and-one layup, and then a dish to Jonathan Mogbo for the layup to fuel a 12-1 run to end the quarter. The Raptors led 81-72 going into the final period of play.
“We tell him all the time he needs to be more aggressive,” Darko said on Quickley’s second half. “Everyone has their own motivation, but Quick is very, very calm. To see him show some emotion tonight got us all fired up…let him go put his energy into scoring. He was hot. It was pretty easy to just feed him.”
Wild Fourth Quarter
The Raptors wouldn’t stop there as they made the run as high as 21-3 at one point and led by 19 points in the fourth quarter. The Magic somehow made a miraculous comeback as they used a 19-4 run late in the fourth quarter to get this all the way down to a two-point ball game. With 4.7 seconds remaining, Franz Wagner got the inbounds, took it to the rim, and just missed the layup to secure the win for the Raptors in heartbreaking fashion.
“I think he got a good look at the rim, he missed the layup,” Mosley on Franz’s last shot. “You’re gonna have about a thousand more of those in your career and you have to know that they’re gonna trust you to have the ball in your hands at times at the end of games.”
“Franz is not the reason we lost the game. That last shot, he got a great look. It just didn’t go in,” Banchero said of Wagner. “He makes that, you know, 99% of the time right there at the rim. So, nobody should be blaming Franz. He was our leading scorer, and he played well.”
Team’s Packing the Paint
Banchero once again appeared visibly upset and frustrated after another disappointing loss and talked about the Raptors’ ball pressure and how to attack defenses when teams are selling out by packing the paint.
“I mean, we didn’t play very well on offense, honestly. So I wouldn’t really, honestly, I wouldn’t attribute it to their ball pressure,” Banchero said. “I would attribute it to, you know, us not executing well enough.”
Banchero added: “I think you just gotta put the ball in your best player’s hands and live with it. Honestly, I think that’s the best way, you know?”
Jamahl Mosley discussed how difficult it is for both Franz and Paolo when teams are packing the paint and how they need to attack that.
“The thing that we continue to ask is that they make the right play and the right read,” Mosley stated. “I think the situations of them just being able to make the right play at the right time to keep trusting and finding their teammates.”
Final Numbers and Quotes
Orlando’s offensive and defensive woes have continued as they shot 30-of-67 (44.8%) from the floor, 7-of-21 (33.3%) from distance, and allowed the Raptors to pull away in the game, but it was too little too late in their comeback efforts.
RJ Barrett (16 points) and Immanuel Quickley (24 points) led the Raptors in scoring tonight. Franz Wagner (25 points) and Paolo Banchero (23 points) led the way for the Magic in another tough loss.
“We’re together. We win together. We lose together,” KCP said on the morale of the team. “No one is breaking off, you know, just being to themselves. Everybody is still trying to uplift each other. We’re still trying to get out of this slump together.”
Orlando will have to learn from this loss and look to bounce back on Tuesday night versus the Raptors once again for the final matchup of the season.