The Phoenix Suns saw their teetering season hit a new low on Sunday night in Florida, as they dropped their third straight game against in a loss to the Orlando Magic. The disappointing 115-110 defeat capping off a dreadful three-game road trip that also took in defeats against the Miami Heat and - most depressingly of all - the New Orleans Pelicans.
This group can't get back to The Valley quick enough, and they are now sitting in 10th spot in the Western Conference. After that fantastic 8-1 start to the campaign, fighting for a play-in spot was not what the Suns had in mind as we approach the midway point in December.
That team had gotten the news in the build-up to the game that star forward Franz Wagner - who had surely been putting together a CV worth of a first All-Star selection - would be out indefinitely with a torn oblique muscle. If that sounds like a pretty unique injury that you also somehow heard before, that's because it is.
It just so happens that the Magic's best player - Paolo Banchero - has played only five games so far this season after suffering the same injury. There's no doubt the Magic are on the path to contention with those two players on their roster. With both sitting however, this was a great opportunity for the Suns to pick up a much needed win versus them.
COLE ANTHONY CHASEDOWN BLOCK@The_ColeAnthony pic.twitter.com/vWnVvD5mHV
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) December 9, 2024
The Magic having already visited Phoenix this season without Banchero, picking up a win on that occasion as well. Kevin Durant might have been missing with an ankle sprain, but Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, first-quarter MVP Tyus Jones and the red hot Royce O'Neale should have been an excellent starting point against the short-handed Magic. It wasn't enough.
Over the course of the game, the Magic outworked and out-hustled the Suns, getting big contributions from throughout their roster. Guard Cole Anthony was a spark off the bench in the first-half, while it was Jalen Suggs who closed this one out down the stretch for his team. In between, bigs Moe Wagner, Tristan da Silva and Goga Bitadze punished the Suns' lack of inside presence.
Really it was the energy of the entire Magic roster to beat a Suns team boasting two All-Stars that was the hardest to swallow, and it highlighted how the Magic are currently everything the Suns are not right now. Rather than dwell on being down their two best offensive players, Orlando found a way to win the game.
GOGA BITADZE SEALS THE DEAL.
Season-high 21 points.
Career-high 16 boards.
His 9th offensive rebound caps the @OrlandoMagic win! pic.twitter.com/aQ1CY1Lixb
— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2024
The likes of Anthony and Suggs - who combined for 40 points - won't be that hot every night without Banchero and Wagner, but it's not like the Suns made it hard on them either. Bitadze finished with a dominant 21 points and 16 boards, and was everything the Suns' own starting center Jusuf Nurkic - out with a right thigh contusion - has failed to be for the team this season.
Whereas on the other side of the court, the Suns were lacklustre throughout much of the game - and if not for some timely 3-pointers by O'Neale - this could have been over long before it actually was. The Magic rallied together without their top two players, and the Suns looked lost without a 36-year-old who isn't even the franchise cornerstone. That was the difference.