Orlando, FL – The Magic officially got their first win at the Kia Center over the New York Knicks 117-108, in front of their largest crowd in team history tonight of 19,587 people.
A late change was made to the starting lineup before tipoff where Wendell Carter Jr missed tonight’s game (knee tendinitis), and that thrust Goga Bitadze back into the starting lineup. Orlando was also without Joe Ingles, Jonathan Issac, and Markelle Fultz as well all due to injury.
The emergence of Jalen Suggs and his growth in year three was on full display all evening as he ignited this Magic team in that first half. Suggs had a spinning floater on the right baseline over Donte Divicenezo, had three great passes in the lane that led to points by both Franz Wagner and Goga Bitadze, and as always he was bringing the intensity on the defensive side of the floor.
Despite Julius Randle having an incredible start to the game where he scored 19 in that first half, the Magic were able to weather that storm and maintain a lead going into the halftime locker room up 55-44.
Orlando came out firing on all cylinders in the third period as they began on a 14-2 run fueled by Jalen Suggs and Paolo Banchero. Anthony Black had the highlight reel play of the night with a dunk off of a lob pass from Jalen Suggs in transition. The Magic were extremely aggressive and physical in that third period getting downhill and creating space for shooters.
Banchero blew by Julius Randle on the right wing and got a tough and-one finish over Randle and Taj Gibson. Paolo had another nice pull-up jumper at the free throw line over the outstretched arms of Ranndle, and Suggs did a great job with a nice elbow jumper over DiVincenzo. Orlando led New York 86-74 going into the fourth.
The sold-out crowd was very animated and they did a great job of keeping the energy all night long, especially in that fourth quarter. Franz Wagner got it started for this team as he hit two threes one on each wing, and the second one being a step back over Randle. The Knicks wouldn’t go down without a fight and Jalen Brunson helped lead a late comeback.
Brunson got downhill and had a tough layup over Suggs, cutting the Magic lead to 102-93. Brunson followed it up pushing the pace in transition and he hit Julius Randle in stride for a fast break layup. Orlando was resilient and bounced back defensively with big blocks from both Goga Bitadze and Paolo Banchero on Jalen Brunson down the stretch. Jalen Suggs hit the dagger with a mid-range jumper on the right wing to extend the lead to 113-106 which essentially sealed the win for the Magic.
I asked Magic Head Coach about Jalen Suggs and his continuous growth on the offensive side of the ball and he stated,
“It goes to the body of work that he puts in. It goes into the belief and trust that these guys have in him his confidence and what he is capable of doing. He put in a great summer, the game is slowing down for him in so many ways, and I think him being able to be confident in everything that he does, and the guys having confidence in him.”
Orlando hosted a playoff-like atmosphere and also beat an opponent that they could very well potentially see in the postseason. The Magic will now kick off their four-game Western Conference road trip Sunday at Phoenix.
