The Magic received positive news about the injury suffered by Jalen Suggs during Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal against the Knicks at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
An MRI conducted Monday confirmed Suggs only suffered a left hip bruise, the team said.
Although an exact timeline for his return was not shared by the Magic, the imaging showed Suggs avoided a more serious injury when he exited with 7:35 left in Orlando‘s 12-point loss to New York that ended its Cup run.
The team said his return will depend on how he responds to treatment. The Magic are already operating without starting forward Franz Wagner, who suffered a left high ankle sprain at New York on Dec. 7.
Orlando also just got back All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who played in his fourth game back Saturday after missing 10 in a row due to a left groin strain.
Suggs was in clear pain not only when he got bumped on his left hip by Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns with six minutes remaining in the third quarter of the semifinal but also after the game in the locker room.
Before the injury, the Magic guard had scored 25 of his 26 points in the first half against New York to go with seven assists in 29 minutes of action.
“It’s the part that sucks the most,” Suggs said about dealing with injuries. “I truly tried [to play]. There’s nowhere else I would have rather been than on the court battling with my guys, especially in a close game. But [God] be having others plans, and I can’t be angry at his plans.”
In 21 games this season, Suggs has averaged 15.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest.
Orlando heads to Denver next when it opens a four-game West Coast road trip Thursday.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com