Jalen Suggs will return to the court tonight against Detroit after missing the past 10 games with a low back strain, the Magic announced (via Twitter).
Orlando went 2-8 with Suggs sidelined and enters tonight on a five-game losing streak. After a strong start to the season, the Magic have fallen into seventh place in the East at 23-23.
Suggs, who last played on January 3, was in the midst of a career-best season before getting hurt. Through 34 games, the 23-year-old guard was averaging career highs with 16.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per night. He’s a vital part of the team’s defense, earning an All-Defensive Second Team nod and finishing 10th in the Defensive Player of the Year voting last season.
The Magic are starting to get healthier after a long string of injuries that sidetracked their season. Paolo Banchero returned from a torn oblique two weeks ago, and Franz Wagner was back in the lineup Thursday for the first time since suffering the same injury.
Suggs will start tonight alongside Banchero, Wagner, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr., tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, who notes that it’s the first time Orlando’s opening-night starting lineup has been together since October 30.
“Just the familiarity of being around each other,” coach Jamahl Mosley said of the benefit of having his preferred starters back together (Twitter video link). “And I’ll start by saying it’s not going to be the same as opening night. These guys haven’t been together. There’s minutes that these guys have to hold. But we do expect the standard of play of the continuity, the togetherness, the toughness, the defensive focus that we’ve constantly talked about. Us being who we are, you can expect that from this group tonight.”