ORLANDO - Orlando Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley said after the team’s practice on Sunday that Jalen Suggs will be available to play in Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the Detroit Pistons.
Suggs, the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Gonzaga University, had injured his left knee while attempting to set a ball screen for Paolo Banchero during the Magic’s preseason game in Dallas a little over a week ago. An MRI revealed the injury to be a capsule sprain and bone bruise.
“I understood what it was. I had done this exact same thing before,” the 21-year-old said. “Understanding what I had to do to get back, understanding what work I had to do in the weight room to get back and everything, and to show the staff and everybody that I was okay to go – that’s exactly how I went about it. It feels good. I don’t like missing time. I don’t want to miss time. We are feeling good, we are playing well. I want to be an assistance with that – help my team win and win with my team.”
Suggs started in Orlando’s first two preseason games – a loss at Memphis and a win at San Antonio – before getting injured in his second minute of action after coming off the bench at Dallas. He had four points, one rebound, two assists and two steals against the Grizzlies and six points, one rebound, three assists and one steal against the Spurs.
Watching from the sidelines the last two exhibition games at Amway Center, the native of Saint Paul, Minnesota was encouraged by what he saw from his teammates and is ecstatic to join them for the season opener.
“We are starting to do the little things very well,” he said. “Whether that’s crashing (the glass) and giving ourselves extra opportunities. Ball movement I think has been phenomenal – too phenomenal at times where guys are passing up open shots. But that’s a good thing. That’s what preseason is for. You play those games to kind of get all that out – get comfortable with the ball movements, our actions, the different things we want to get to in switches and drops…We got to see a lot of different situations, which you can’t ask for anything more in preseason. We were in close games. We were in games that weren’t so close. We got to work on a lot. Going into it, we’ve won four straight – whether they are preseason or not – and that’s great momentum to build on and everybody’s feeling good.”
With still a few days of practice time before the Magic head up to Detroit, Mosley and his coaching staff will continue exploring different lineup combinations. Also in these sessions, they hope to, as Mosley describes it, “dominate the simple.”
“Just continuing to tighten it up,” he said. “Making sure these guys understand the things we are asking them to do, that our simple fundamentals and basics are always going to be hit home every single day. But then their ability to execute at a higher level. Obviously, we are going to continue to talk about taking care of the basketball, defending without fouling – those are the continued situations we are going to have to keep looking at.”