Jalen Suggs guides Orlando Magic past Phoenix Suns to remain perfect at home

Let go. Those were the two words Jalen Suggs kept repeating to himself as he sat in the Orlando Magic's locker room during halftime of their home game against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.

The former Gonzaga standout didn't look like himself on either end of the floor in the first half, and it didn't help that the Magic were down their two leading scorers in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Both are sidelined after they suffered a torn oblique, putting an extra burden on Suggs and company to pick up the slack while their co-stars heal up.

But following a 1-for-4 start from the field and a few careless turnovers out of the gate against the Suns, Suggs decided it was time to let go of all those external pressures and just stick to what he does best.

"I was pressing a little bit just because it's a unique situation," Suggs said. "But really just coming on the second half, letting go. I wrote it in my journal, just trying to find ways to find joy, find opportunity, as many opportunities as possible to smile, to lift up my teammates. And that kind of took the burden off of me. It took me out of the mindset of, 'I have to do this, I have to do that.'"

A more care-free Suggs worked wonders for the Magic in the second half, as the 6-foot-5 guard finished with a team-high 26 points to lead the Magic to their 10th consecutive home win with a 115-110 victory over the Suns. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and helped swing momentum with two 3-pointers and eight points in a span of 1:47, putting Orlando out in front with a 103-100 lead it never relinquished.

"So proud of everybody, man," Suggs said of his team's performance. "When the two best players go out, two players who are involved so much especially in our offense ... it's really hard to replicate that with one person.

"We spoke about it earlier today, about coming together, about this being a group effort, that we can all fill in and help out to cover that gap that those two left behind, and we did."

Goga Bitadze put up 21 points and grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds, including a key offensive rebound and putback in the final seconds to ice the game. Cole Anthony led a strong attack from Orlando's reserves with 14 points, while Moritz Wagner added 10 points and six rebounds.

The Magic (17-9) remain the NBA's only unbeaten team at home despite not having their leading scorer in uniform since Oct. 30. Suggs has played a large role in keeping that streak alive while Banchero heals, and he'll certainly continue to do so after Franz was ruled out indefinitely earlier this week.

"It's very important," Suggs said in regard to maintaining Orlando's identity sans Banchero and Franz. "I think it's very important, man, to just keep coming out here, playing basketball, having fun, trusting men next to you, really just enjoying the game."

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