Magic SG Jalen Suggs: First-Team All Defense?
ORLANDO - Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs has been one of the most disruptive backcourt defenders in the NBA this season.
The growth on the defensive side of his game has propelled the Magic to 41 wins, the first time Orlando has finished .500 or better since the 2018-19 season. The Magic is on pace for its best record since the 2010-11 season when Dwight Howard was the face of the franchise.
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Howard won the Defensive Player of the Year award that season, and Suggs has the chance to be the first Magic player to be on an All-NBA Defensive Team since him.
“First-team all-defense, that’s what that looks like," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Tuesday's win against the Charlotte Hornets. "He’s the head of the snake. He’s the first one on defense: As he’s picking up full court, getting to the basketball, that back line is making sure they’re protecting him, sticking to our principles and knowing what we’re capable of doing, but he starts it all off. His energy, his enthusiasm, it just carries over from him and onto the next guy.”
It's no coincidence that the Magic has won 11 of 14 since the All-Star Break and two of those losses came when Suggs was out with a thigh contusion. The other loss came on the second night of a back-to-back when Paolo Banchero sat against the Atlanta Hawks.
If the Magic is going to make any noise in the postseason, Suggs will have to be the defensive menace he's been all year long. And the more he grows into his own, the better the Magic will become.
Suggs and the Magic return to the court tomorrow night against the New Orleans Pelicans. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
