Story by
Jalen Suggs focused on rehab as Magic travel again after 4th home loss
- Story by
- Jalen Suggs focused on rehab as Magic travel again after 4th home loss
Magic guard Jalen Suggs could only watch from the bench as Orlando dropped its fourth straight home game to open the season under new coach Sean Sweeney on Monday night.
It was a familiar position for the sixth-year pro, who's been plagued by injuries throughout his career, with his latest being a right knee bone bruise suffered Oct. 25 at New York.
Advertisement
"It's my path," Suggs told the Orlando Sentinel before the Magic fell 103-94 to the Wizards at Kia Center . "I mean, I can't complain about it. So, it's the same process for me whether I'm playing or not. I wake up and I come to work. And for me, that's fun. I enjoy that. Because I'm getting better. It's nothing different for me."
"Obviously, there's a little frustration," Suggs added. "I'd love to be playing, but I (am not) complaining about (anything)."
The Magic would love for him to be playing, too.
The same could be said for Paolo Banchero (right high ankle sprain), Noah Penda (partially torn right hamstring), Jonathan Isaac (left knee injury management), Izaiyah Nelson (left ankle injury recovery) and Anthony Black, who sat out the second night of Orlando's back-to-back to manage his the right ankle sprain he is still continuing to recover from.
Advertisement
Without those six available, the Magic lacked key depth, offensive firepower and the defensive intensity required to slow down Washington's quartet of Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Kyshawn George and No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa.
Davis shot 12-for-17 from the floor to total 27 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes, George knocked down four 3-pointers to finish with 22 points, and Dybantsa notched 21 points with five rebounds and three steals. Young dished out nine assists with 15 points.
Meanwhile, Franz Wagner led Orlando with 24 points and Desmond Bane totaled 20, but five others ended in single digits. The Magic overall shot 11-for-39 from 3-point range (28%) and turned the ball over 18 times for 22 Washington points.
While Wagner and Bane shot a combined 18-for-35 (51.4%) from the field against the Wizards, all other Magic players beyond those two shot a combined 19-for-45 from the floor (42.2%) for the night.
Advertisement
"We are shorthanded," Magic center Nikola Vucevic said in the locker room after game. "That's not an excuse but we've got to figure some stuff out with having guys out how to make life easier, especially for Franz and Desmond, because they're getting definitely more pressured."
The Magic will have to figure something out fast as they head back out on the road this week. Orlando opens a four-game West Coast road trip Thursday at Phoenix and will make stops at Golden State, Sacramento and Utah.
While Black is expected back after not playing on the second night of the back-to-back, Suggs won't be re-evaluated until Monday. Banchero is less than two weeks removed from suffering his high ankle sprain that typically takes four to six weeks to rehabilitate.
Suggs didn't have an update on a potential timeline when asked on Monday night. He was also unsure if he'll travel with the team this week.
Advertisement
"I don't even know, to be honest," he said. "But my process has been the exact same as it was before camp started — making sure I handle my business every day, making sure I'm watching games, making sure I come in, get my work in (and) making sure I'm improving every day so that when the time is right, I come out and I'm ready to hoop."
But the Magic know they can't wait around for reinforcements to come save them from a 2-5 start to open the regular season. It's up to them to fix their own problems, which include poor 3-point shooting, a lack of rebounding and a failure to take care of the ball.
"We've just got to continue to work on it, figure it out and just move on," Vucevic said. "Every team goes through it at some point throughout the year. It's tough when it happens at the beginning, especially when you're trying to work some things out and have a new coach and all that, but it's part of it. It's on us to figure it out and I think we still have enough to do that. So, hopefully we can regroup and do a better job on this trip."
It could also help Orlando that its schedule eases up some this week. The team's next five games, besides Saturday's at Golden State (5-3), feature four teams that only had one win as of Tuesday night. Phoenix (1-4), Sacramento (1-6), Utah (1-6) and Milwaukee (1-6) had a combined record of 4-22 after Monday.
Advertisement
Regardless of the strength of the opponent, the Magic believe they're close to piecing together the puzzle on both ends of the floor.
"At times it looks really good where we know what we're doing and we're executing really well," Vucevic said. "At (other) times, not so much. And I think when it's not really going our way, we get a little hesitant. We overthink things. But I feel like in most games we've lost, except for like the one in Toronto where we got blown out, we're kind of like right there.
"But we've still stuck with it. We still fought all the way. We just came up short, and we've just got to continue to work."
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next
What:Magic at Suns
When:9 p.m., Thursday, Mortgage Matchup Center
TV:MagicTV 27, DAZN (streaming)
