Magic All-Star forward Paolo Banchero hit the ground running in his first game back from a two-month injury absence, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.
During a 109-106 defeat to Milwaukee on Friday, the 6’10” star scored 34 points in just 27 minutes, using a versatile offensive attack that included five three-point makes. Banchero had been shelved with a torn right abdominal muscle.
“The kid’s been working his tail off to get back in,” Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “What he was able to do with poise, taking the right shots [at] the right time, defending, taking matchups on, this tells you how much he wants to go get it and get after it.
There’s more out of Orlando:
- Rookie Magic forward Tristan Da Silva, who thrived with Banchero sidelined, continued to play strongly even when the All-Star returned to action, Beede notes in another piece. Da Silva secured the first double-double of his career in the Bucks bout, scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 boards. “He’s just a natural,” Banchero raved of Da Silva. “He can kind of fit out there with anybody, any lineup.”
- Mosley supplied a minor update on the health of All-Defensive Magic guard Jalen Suggs recently, Beede tweets. Mosley initially addressed why the injured Suggs has been away from the club’s bench while not playing, terrain hurt players typically occupy. “I think it’s one of those things [that’s] precautionary more than anything,” Mosley said. “With the back [injury], sitting on the bench is not necessarily conducive to how you’re supposed to feel in that scenario… He’s been able to move a little bit here and there on the floor, getting up and getting down a little bit, but nothing with contact.”
- In case you missed it, Marc Stein believes Mosley has a real shot at earning Coach of the Year honors — thanks to the way he’s handled the long-term injury absences of Banchero and Franz Wagner, among others.
Mosley and Atkinson both deserve CoY, but gotta give the nod to Mosley for elevating so many young players in such a short time and created NBA’s #1 defense.
Defense wins in the playoffs. If Suggs, Banchero, and Franz are healthy in April, this team may shock the world.