Meet the Opponent: Suns, Magic Each Absent Star Power as Orlando Comes Home

The PhoenIx Suns will play Sunday without perennial All-Star Kevin Durant. The Magic are playing their first game this season without rising stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner — both out indefinitely with torn oblique injuries.

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) watches game action against the Orlando Magic during the second half of an NBA game at Footprint Center. | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. – When the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns conclude their two-game season series on Sunday night, it'll be hard to not feel that something more was left on the table.

That's because each game — both the Nov. 18 matchup and this one — will have featured neither the Suns' Kevin Durant nor the Magic's Paolo Banchero. After learning Saturday of Franz Wagner's torn right oblique diagnosis, the same injury that Banchero has been dealing with for the past five weeks, the Magic will be without their top two scorers.

That's 50-plus points and 10-plus rebounds and assists that Orlando will be without for the foreseeable future. In Banchero and Wagner's two-plus seasons together with the Magic, Sunday is just the second time that neither of the former top draft picks will be available for the Magic.

Phoenix will still have high-octane scorers Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. But when the Suns have been without Durant, their record is 1-8.

Orlando won the earlier matchup between these two teams 109-99 behind 32 points from Franz Wagner.

About the Suns

Leading Scorers:

• Devin Booker: 24.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists
• Bradley Beal: 17.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists
• Tyus Jones: 11.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.9 assists
• Grayson Allen: 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists
• Royce O'Neale: 10.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists

Gameday Injury News

• Kevin Durant: OUT (left ankle sprain)
• Ryan Dunn: OUT (left ankle soreness)
• Jusuf Nurkic: OUT (right thigh contusion)

Notable Numbers

• 16th net rating (11th offense, 20th defense)
• 9th eFG% (55.6), 14th opp. eFG (54.1)
• 6th FTA rate (.273), 11th opp. FTA rate (.236)
• 12th TOV% (14.0), 28th opp. TOV% (12.8)
• 15th REB% (50.1)
• 20th pace (98.7 possessions/game)
• 27th points in the paint/game (41.1)

Orlando's season resets Sunday. The Magic have played 20 of their 25 games without their No. 1 option but survived — and frequently thrived — because the No. 2 option rose to an All-Star level.

The absence of Banchero and Wagner likely alters expectations for what the Magic can accomplish over the upcoming stretch of games. The Suns, who aren't at full strength themselves, are the first sample of the retooled Magic.

After spending 16 of their first 25 games on the road, the Magic play seven of the next eight games at home. Guard Jalen Suggs, the lead dog of a league-best defense who also could be expected to provide more offense, said Friday he was excited to get home "even if it's only for 36 hours. Ready to get back home, refresh, and get some Florida sun."

The Magic, as a collective, will need a refresh, too. The adjustment period ahead storm will require patience.

Beginning that trek in a building where they remain unbeaten – the last NBA team this season that can make that claim – is a silver lining.

Related Stories on the Orlando Magic

• MAGIC-SUNS TV INFO: How to watch Orlando and Phoenix do battle on Sunday evening. CLICK HERE
• MAGIC-SUNS INJURY REPORT: Who's in, who's out for the Magic and Suns on Sunday night? CLICK HERE
• BURNING QUESTIONS WITHOUT WAGNER: Forced to trudge forward without Paolo Banchero or Franz Wagner, who are both sidelined with torn oblique injuries, the Magic have plenty of questions that need answered – and fast. CLICK HERE
• FRANZ OUT INDEFINITELY WITH TORN RIGHT OBLIQUE: Bad luck strikes twice for the Magic, as they lose a star for an indefinite period to a torn right oblique for the second time this season. CLICK HERE
• ESPN'S 25 UNDER 25 FEATURES 3 MAGIC: The Orlando Magic have three players on ESPN's NBA '25 under 25' list CLICK HERE
• PAOLO'S STARDOM GROWS GIVING BACK IN NYC: Banchero spent his Monday afternoon surprising kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem with a shopping spree at the NBA Store in New York. CLICK HERE
• MAGIC'S RELIANCE ON POISE AND MATURITY: Orlando has superpowers, ones they've garnered through years of trudging through results to end up where they are now: maturity and poise. CLICK HERE
• PAOLO BANCHERO BACK ON THE COURT: The All-Star forward is making progress toward a return for the first time since tearing his oblique Oct. 30. CLICK HERE
• MAGIC'S 2024-25 SCHEDULE: See the complete slate for the Orlando Magic in 2024-25 and all the details – dates, locations, TV, tip times, and more – that you need to know. CLICK HERE

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