Magic Undefeated At Home

Orlando, FL—No Paolo, no Franz, no problem as the Magic home win streak has been extended to 10 in a row, while also remaining the only undefeated team at home in the NBA, with a 115-110 victory Magic vs Suns game, largely thanks to Goga Bitadze’s career high rebounding night.

Injury Report and Updates

Both teams came into tonight’s matchup depleted with injuries as the Magic were missing several key rotational players from Paolo Banchero (oblique), Franz Wagner (oblique), Gary Harris (hamstring), and Jonathan Isaac (hamstring). Phoenix was down a handful of key contributors from Kevin Durant (ankle), Jusuf Nurkic (thigh), and Ryan Dunn (ankle).

Paolo Banchero has now missed 21 consecutive games in a row and is still in the process of rehabbing and slowly getting back onto the court. Jamhal Mosley before tip-off shared an injury update on Banchero:

“I think that’s why we don’t put timelines on it because each guy is unique and each guy is different in the way in which they recover—We’ll take it one day at a time and see how he responds each day.”

After Franz Wagner sustained the same injury as Banchero, a torn right oblique injury on Friday evening in Philadelphia he was ruled out indefinitely and would be re-evaluated in the next four weeks, per the team. Orlando knew they would have their hands full coming into tonight’s matchup and moving forward without two of their best players.

“It’s a unique situation,” Jamhal Mosley said of players needing to step up. “When Paolo [Banchero] goes down you’re losing 30-8-6, for numbers. When Franz [Wagner] goes down you’re losing 27-6-5. You’re not asking one person to fill that void, and that’s why we talk about by committee—Enjoy the process of coming closer together and pushing each other to achieve great things.”

Magic Prevail Past Adversity

This was a chippy and physical game all evening long but Orlando came out of the gates firing away as they went up early on the Suns 13-9 about midway through the first quarter of play. Phoenix would call timeout and immediately score 14 straight unanswered points as they would widen the gap.

Orlando was able to stop the bleeding with buckets by Anthony Black, Jett Howard, and Cole Anthony and the Suns would lead the Magic 34-29 after one period of play. Phoenix would continue playing well on both sides of the ball and knocking down nine first-half triples helped them maintain the lead as they went into the halftime locker room up 62-57 on the Magic.

The second half showed on full display how much confidence, belief, and trust this group has in one another as they were able to gut out a win versus an extremely talented and physical Suns team. Jalen Suggs, who had a rough first half scoring just four points, took over in the fourth quarter scoring 14 of his 26 points to propel the Magic to victory.

Jalen Suggs Leads the Way

“Just let go,” Jalen Suggs said of his second-half adjustments. “You know I was pressing it a little bit, but really just coming out in the second half and letting go. I wrote it in my journal just tryna find ways to find joy, find as many opportunities as possible to smile, to lift up my teammates, and that kind of took the burden off of me.”

Suggs put on a valiant effort tonight to lead the team 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 keep this Magic home win streak alive in the Magic vs Suns matchup. Suggs has already broken his career high in points twice this season, first with a 28-point outing against the Cavs, and then a 31-point game against the Bulls, proving that he can step up and be that primary option the team needs during this stretch 

“I think he did a great job, and he knows how special he is defensively, we know how special he is defensively,” Jamahl Mosley on Suggs’ performance under pressure. “When it comes to the ability and talking about pressure, I think he embraces all of that—That’s who he is. I mean he made big shots, but he also got big stops down the stretch.”

Goga Bitadze Continues to Shine

Without two of their best players, Orlando needed everybody to step up for this Magic vs Suns game and Goga continues to shine as the starting center for this Magic squad, as Bitadze’s career high rebounding night propels the Magic tonight. Bitadze would finish the night with a season-high 21 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, and chipped in four assists.

Bitadze rebounding made his presence everywhere on the floor by crashing the glass, as well as setting good screens, being a big body down low, and of course, deterring opposing players from coming inside when he’s inside the paint.

“I think Goga [Bitadze] did a great job,” Jamahl Mosley said of Goga. “21 (points) and 16 (rebounds)…Goga, he’s a very smart basketball player, tough basketball player, and is doing the right things to continue to help this team reach levels of success.”

Orlando’s Next Man Up Mentality

Orlando was not only missing two starters in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but they were also missing two key rotational players in their second unit in Jonathan Isaac and Gary Harris. Mosley would have to dig deep into his bench with a ten-man rotation that featured extended minutes for Caleb Houstan and Jett Howard for this Magic vs Suns match.

Houstan finished the night scoring eight points, Howard would chip in six, but it was Cole Anthony who led all bench scorers with 14 points.

“I think we’ve been saying this since Paolo [Banchero] went down but It’s next man up mentality,” Cole Anthony on the message for the team tonight. “So for me, I just wanted to come into the game and do whatever I can to help the team win. Tonight in the first half I was able to get it going a little bit…It was just good to be out there.”

Despite 115 points from the Suns, the Magic did a great job of limiting their best scorer in Devin Booker who was held to 25 points while shooting 8 of 21 (38%) from the floor and 1 of 5 (20%) from deep. Orlando continued to play stifling defense contributing 11 steals and six blocks defensively. Because of Bitadze’s career high rebounding, the Magic were also able to outrebound the Suns 44-39.

The Magic home win streak has stayed alive and they have improved to 17-9 on the season, and they remain the number three seed in the East, they now have a quick turnaround as they will travel to Milwaukee to play the Bucks to tip off the NBA In-Season Tournament on Tuesday evening.