Orlando’s Struggles Continue

Orlando, FL— The Magic have now dropped their fourth game in a row, having lost 15 of their last 20 games, and this season has shown me that Jalen Suggs is the most important player to the success of the Orlando Magic. 

Head Coach Jamahl Mosley is currently in the midst of his toughest season as a Head Coach as he’s had to deal with an immense amount of injuries and has had 20+ different starting lineups. Orlando has endured injuries to nearly everyone on the roster, especially their big three as Paolo Banchero has missed 34 games, Franz Wagner 20 games, and Jalen Suggs 16 games. 

Magic’s Early Season Up’s and Downs

When Banchero tore his oblique in Chicago back on Oct. 30, the team was expected to struggle mightily without their best player, and they did for a bit. Orlando would proceed to lose their next four games on the road, and it appeared as if the Magic would be dead in the water without Banchero.

After the Magic returned home to prepare for a five-game homestand, they proceeded to rattle off six consecutive wins in a row as Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs carried this team. Wagner and Suggs would proceed to win 12 of 19 games in the months of November and December without Banchero, keeping the Magic afloat in the Eastern Conference standings. 

Jalen Suggs hits a crucial three to keep the Magic ahead

During the early season stretch without Banchero, Jalen Suggs discussed the team’s confidence after winning their third game in a row without Paolo.

“Like I said, the same way we can drop five [games], we can take five really quickly,” Suggs said. “For as heavy as those moments were, you have to celebrate these moments as well — I’m really proud of how everybody stuck together. We never skipped a beat. Nobody’s ever turned their back on anybody, [had] any bad words to say. Stayed connected, stayed as a group, and [we’re] starting to get these wins now which is good.”

Suggs Becomes #1 Option

Unfortunately, the injury bug struck the Magic again as Franz Wagner tore his oblique in Philadelphia on Dec. 6, and now Jalen Suggs was left by himself to carry the load. 

In his first game without Paolo or Franz, Suggs put together a valiant effort against the Phoenix Suns finishing with a game-high 26 points while chipping in four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and knocking down four shots from distance in the second half to lead the Magic to victory.

After the game against Phoenix Jamahl Mosley continued to praise Suggs, especially how he had been performing under pressure.

“I think he did a great job,” Mosley stated. “He knows how special he is defensively, we know how special he is defensively — I think he embraces all of that when it comes to being and doing the right thing for the team. That’s who he is. I mean he made big shots, but he also got big stops down the stretch.

Suggs had been playing some of the basketball of his career as he was thrust into a larger role averaging 18.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 10 games without Wagner or Banchero.

Magic’s Record with Multiple Lineups

For context let’s take a look at the Magic’s record this season with different lineups and see just how impactful Suggs has been to this team winning or losing games.

In 35 games played this season, the Magic are 20-15 with Suggs on the floor. The Magic are 4-12 without Jalen Suggs this season. Here are the rest of the Magic’s records with different lineups to their big three.

12-7 with Suggs/Franz, no Paolo

4-2 with Suggs/Franz/Paolo

4-6 with Suggs, no Franz/Paolo

0-5 with Franz/Paolo, no Suggs

There are a ton of factors that go into the records shown above, but the numbers are glaring, and there is one clear common denominator in all of it. I’d be willing to credit some of these losses to the absence of Moritz Wagner who was playing like a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, but this is more about Jalen and his impact on this team.

Jalen’s Impact Doesn’t Go Unnoticed

The Magic were supposed to get back to their winning ways with Franz and Paolo returning from injury, but it’s been the complete opposite. The Magic are now 2-10 since Paolo Banchero returned from injury on Jan. 10, Orlando is 5-12 with Banchero overall, and 19-15 without him.

This is not to discredit Banchero and his talent when he’s playing high-level basketball but it’s been a struggle for him since returning to the court from injury. 

Franz Wagner on the other hand has been playing well, rattling off 15 straight games of 20+ points from Nov. 21-present and he joins Tracy McGrady and Shaquille O’Neale as the only players in franchise history to accomplish that feat. 

Unfortunately, it hasn’t translated to wins as Banchero and Wagner are 0-5 this season in games without Suggs, and it’s glaring obvious how much this team needs him.

What Suggs brings to this team night-in and night-out with his defensive intensity, his ability to stretch the floor, and being the ‘head of the snake’ defensively is invaluable to this team. Orlando is going to hope that Suggs (quad) can return from his injury soon because this team desperately needs him.