Injury-Riddled Magic Fall to Knicks

Orlando, FL – For the first time all season, Kia Center did not play the song once the final buzzer sounded after the Magic vs Knicks game. With a 100-91 loss to the New York Knicks tonight, the Orlando Magic snapped a 14-game winning streak in Orlando and became the final NBA team to lose at home this season. It took 11 home games this season for it to happen, but turnovers at inopportune times and a failure to stop multiple New York scoring runs allowed the Knicks to take over the sole remaining unscathed court, despite Moe Wagner and Tristan da Silva’s career night.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Head Coach Jamahl Mosley said after tonight’s loss. “We gotta be able to understand that, sustain it, and continue to play the right way.”

Historic Win Streak Comes to an End

Those 14 games were the third-most consecutive home games the Magic have won in franchise history, the most among them before tonight’s Knicks vs Magic matchup. The 10 games they won this season marked the third-longest winning streak at home to start a season, and the longest since they played their first game at Kia Center.

The Knicks seemed to have little issue attacking Orlando’s stout defense tonight. Jalen Brunson led his team with 31 points (17 in the second half) and basked in “M-V-P” chants from the crowd every time he prepared to shoot a free throw. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points of his own while playing 43 minutes. But among the most impressive feats of the night came from Mikal Bridges, who scored 17 points and played 40 minutes in his 500th straight NBA game. 

The Magic’s defense kept the score tied after one quarter, but the Knicks ran away with the lead by halftime and did not lose their momentum throughout the night.

“We did a lot of good things that we needed to do today against a team that’s been really good and been playing really well right now in Orlando,” Towns said. “We found ourselves getting a win here — something people haven’t been able to do.”

Tonight was not all doom and gloom for Orlando though. The return of a defensive ace and career highs from two players kept the Magic within single digits of a top-seeded Knicks team with championship aspirations.

Da Silva Steps Up to the Occasion

The Magic’s box score at the end of the box score looked mostly modest across the board — with one exception. When that first buzzer sounded, rookie forward Tristan da Silva had just scored his ninth point. At that moment, all of his teammates had a combined total of 13 points.

Tonight was nothing short of a breakout game for da Silva, who scored a career-high 20 points while making nine of his 17 field goal attempts and two of his five three-point tries. He also finished the night with three rebounds and two assists in the 32 minutes he played tonight.

“I thought Tristan did some really good things,” Mosley said. “I thought he was aggressive in the pick-and-roll, I thought he stepped into his shot with confidence, I think the guys were looking for him.”

Da Silva’s Sudden Emergence

Tonight was the magnum opus of a young career that did not start off as anticipated. When superstar forward Paolo Banchero tore his right oblique, da Silva was thrust from the third string into the starting lineup before the Magic’s following game against the top-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers, where he notched his career high of 17 points before tonight.

Tonight, da Silva broke that career high with 7:10 left to play in the fourth quarter.

“Sometimes … I let my defender off the hook by playing a little bit more passive and just moving the ball,” da Silva said. “I’ve kinda had that go for me — especially these last couple of games — to really be aggressive and really try to attack.”

It can be difficult for a rookie to navigate the difficult adjustments of the NBA, but da Silva has made an impressive first NBA impression so far, especially after his career night. He has the full support of his new teammates, who encourage him to play his game with complete confidence in his ability and future growth.

Playing with that confidence is what allowed him to score the first 20-point game of his career tonight, alongside with the motivation of Moe Wagner, who also had a career-high this game.

“Just let it fly,” Moe Wagner said he tells da Silva. “You determine your own destiny, you’re here for a reason, you got a great opportunity starting — just have fun. You can’t lose. That’s a great feeling.”

Jonathan Isaac’s Return From Injury

It has been three long games since Jonathan Isaac strained his right hamstring. The Magic have missed the presence of their premier defender on the court and his ability to carry a team’s defense.

In tonight’s Magic vs Knicks game, Isaac made his return. And the Magic couldn’t have been happier to see him back.

“[Isaac’s] ability to defend multiple positions, space the floor, anchors our defense in so many ways,” Mosley said about Isaac’s return. “It’s very big to have him back on the floor as guys slowly start to get healthy.”

Isaac’s numbers in his first game back did not pop off the stats sheet. He only attempted one shot tonight — a third-quarter three-pointer that swished in the net. But what stood out tonight — as always — was his defense. He had three defensive rebounds, two blocks and a steal, and his hamstring looked perfectly healthy as he continuously stayed in front of New York’s shifty scorers.

Isaac wasn’t the only defensive standout tonight. The Magic were picking off errant passes from the Knicks all game — especially during the first quarter. Goga Bitadze and Jalen Suggs even had three blocks tonight, and four of the team’s five starters came away with at least one steal. 

“Our defense did keep us in this,” Mosley said. “That was the key to it.”

It was yet another game in which the Magic flaunted their suffocating defense, with a good-as-new Isaac at the center (or, power forward?) of it all.

Moe Wagner Works His Magic

Most teams would be lucky to have a player like Moe Wagner coming off their bench. Tonight, the Magic were one of those teams.

There was hardly a single shot tonight that the center couldn’t make. Moe Wagner exploded for a career-high 32 points tonight off of 10-for-15 shooting from the field and 4-for-7 shooting from three. Every other bench player on the Magic scored a combined total of 16 points.

With injuries to the Magic’s two best players — including Moe’s brother Franz — every other player needed to fill those vacant roles. Tonight, that player was Wagner, whose career night nearly propelled Orlando to a win.

“This is the NBA,” Wagner said. “Everybody gets hurt. You’ve got to use your opportunity and have the mindset of being a go-getter.”

Before tonight, Moe Wagner’s previous career high of 30 came on Nov. 15, 2019, which was the only time he had scored at least 30 points in the last five seasons. That total far surpasses his season-high of 20 points on Dec. 3, 2024 — which he also scored in a Magic vs Knicks matchup.

Even though it’s an incredible accomplishment for Moe Wagner on his career night, and Tristan da Silva’s career night, he’s focused on a different number on the stats sheet tonight.

“We lost, so nobody cares,” Wagner said.

Though the Magic could not leave Kia Center with a win tonight, that final score would have certainly looked a lot different without Moe Wagner’s career-high game.

Suggs Struggles to Score But Still Makes an Impact

Despite only scoring four points off of 2-for-16 shooting from the field (12.5%) and, Jalen Suggs still played a large role in tonight’s game. He grabbed six rebounds, dished out eight assists, and swatted three blocks before fouling out with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

This was the first time Suggs scored less than 20 points since Franz Wagner tore his right oblique. The Knicks vs Magic was a very physical game, and Suggs looked visibly frustrated throughout much of the game.

“This is one of those games where it’s a physical battle,” Mosley said. “It’s tough. You’re getting hit, you’re getting grabbed, you’re getting held, and then you’re not making shots.”

Production From Orlando’s Role Players 

Veteran guard Cory Joseph played nine minutes of basketball tonight. Those nine minutes are the most Joseph has played since signing with the Magic, and the first minutes he’s played since Nov. 13. He made the only shot he attempted and finished with two points, a rebound and an assist.

“He’s a pro. He’s a vet,” Mosley said. “He understands the pace of the game, the speed of the game, how he needs to play, how to get guys involved.”

Guard Gary Harris did not play today due to a left hamstring strain, but he was able to get some shots up during pregame warmups. He practiced movement shooting drills where he ran across the court, and his hamstring never once seemed to bother him.

Time will tell when Harris returns to action, but Mosley said that returning to Orlando is already a step forward in his progress.

“For us to be in our home, at our facility, with the recovery that we get, the facility that we have,” Mosley said, “I think it’s so important for these guys to just continue to get the right recovery and the right rest as we move forward throughout the season.”