Los Angeles star James Harden looked to push the ball up the court by sending a bounce pass ahead to teammate Kris Dunn late in the third quarter Thursday night at Kia Center.
He had other plans.
The All-Defensive Magic guard, who was playing in just his 12th game since Jan. 25th against the Clippers, dove for ball, spun around on the floor, gained possession and went down the other end before lobbing the ball upward to Goga Bitadze for a transition slam.
The successful Orlando sequence, with Suggs at the center of it all, served as a microcosm of the type of player he once was for the Magic before undergoing surgery last season to repair a left knee cartilage tear that limited him to just 35 contests in his fourth year in the league.
It was all a part of a larger effort from Suggs, who was making all sorts of plays on both ends of the floor with a season-high 23 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range with seven assists, two steals and two blocks in a 28-point victory, 129-101, over Los Angeles.
But what if Suggs doesn’t want to be the type of player he once was for Orlando?
What if, instead, he wants to be even better?
“I don’t even think I’m chasing my former self,” the Orlando guard said Thursday after helping guide the Magic to their fifth win in six games. “I’m reaching for who I can be — player and person. It’s great to look back at the past couple seasons, you know some of the old ways I used to defend, even before the knee, and just my movement patterns and all that. It’s great to be based off of but for me, it’s about how do I keep evolving in this league so I can stay present, keep improving, keep helping us climb the ranks to become one of the better teams. Me improving myself and who I am directly correlates with that.
“So, [I’m] just trying to be better for everybody,” he added. “It’ll come in time. I know I’ve got more steps to go. I’ve got a higher level I can be at. So, really just trying to take it day-by-day, continue to be honest with how I’m feeling — mentally, physically — and just keep growing, to be honest. I’m in a good space with it now, just trying to trust it again. That’s the biggest part and everything else with time will come at me.”
Whichever version the Magic are getting of Suggs, they know how important he is toward the team’s success on a nightly basis, especially without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who missed his fourth game in a row Thursday due to a left groin strain.
It’s not a coincidence that Orlando improved to 6-1 Thursday when Suggs scores 13 or more points this season. He made a season-high five 3-pointers, while the Magic as a whole made a season-best 18.
“That’s part of what makes Jalen, Jalen,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “His ability to do all of the little things, putting his body on the line for those moments, making those hustle plays … I mean, he’s going for blocks on 7-footers coming down the lane. But those are big plays for us.
“It’s who he is, it’s what he does, and we need that from him,” Mosely added.
Slowly and surely, Suggs has seen his minutes increase almost every time he’s stepped on the court. His night ended early, with just 26 minutes in three quarters Thursday (the Magic led by 17 points entering the fourth). However, he has increased from a little more than 16 minutes opening night to 32 on Tuesday against Golden State.
Mosley said Suggs’s minutes will continue to depend on how he responds to each showing, but the Magic coach understands the role he plays for those on and off the court.
“You see what our bench does … When he makes the hustles plays, makes the big block, makes a big 3 in transition, he stands there for about 3 seconds and looks at the bench, and the bench goes back with him,” Mosley said. “He gets the crowd involved, and our fans have been fantastic at home.”
Suggs, of course, wasn’t the only reason Orlando won Thursday. The Magic had six double-digit scorers and three more with at least 7 points.
With four players making at least two 3-pointers, Orlando shot 53% from beyond the arc. In 16 games played, the Magic improved to 7-1 when scoring 120-plus points, something they did just 10 times all of last season (9-1 in those contests).
They’ve gone 8-3 in their past 11 games and 3-1 without Banchero the past week. They’ll be without Banchero for a fifth consecutive contest against New York.
But more challenges await.
After Orlando (9-7) hosts the Knicks (9-5) on the first night of a back-to-back Saturday, it’ll travel to Boston the next night to open a three-game road trip next week. The Magic then travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday (NBC/Peacock) and Detroit next Friday for a pair of crucial NBA Cup group stage games.
Saturday’s game against New York features an earlier 5 p.m. tipoff because the game will be televised in more than 30 countries, including Brazil, Germany, Japan and Iceland.
“We’ve just handled it as a team,” forward Franz Wagner said about Orlando playing without Banchero. “Everybody’s stepping into their role, playing confidently out there and doing what’s asked of them at a high level.
“If we can continue to do that, we’re in a good spot right now and obviously playing some really good teams in the next couple games, so we’ve got to continue to get better and keep doing what we’re doing.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic vs. Knicks
When: 5 p.m., Saturday, Kia Center
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida/NBA TV