TORONTO — Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs left his team’s game against the Toronto Raptors late in the second quarter on Friday night, suffering a non-contact injury that had him grasping at his back and requiring a wheelchair to go to the locker room.
The Magic ruled him out for the night due to back spasms just after the second half started.
Suggs was attempting to jump a potential passing lane between Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley and wing Ochai Agbaji. The pass was not thrown immediately, but Suggs immediately fell to the floor, reaching for his lower back with his right arm as he fell. After Agbaji missed a 3, the Magic called timeout with 3:06 left in the quarter.
Suggs was in obvious pain, as many of his teammates and Orlando’s medical staff surrounded him. He was helped to his feet briefly, but was taken off the floor via wheelchair. A teammate draped a towel over Suggs’ head and face.
Cole Anthony started in place of Suggs to begin the second half.
Jalen Suggs was wheelchaired off the court after a non-contact back injury
Hope he’s okay 🙏 pic.twitter.com/6IHEabv2gI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 4, 2025
He was in a lot of pain,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said after the game, a 106-97 Orlando win. “Right now it’s looking like back spasms, so we’ll just have to get him reevaluated (Saturday).”
“He’s trying to be in good spirits right now,” teammate Tristan da Silva said after the game. “He said he was watching me on TV, which I thought was funny. He was smiling.”
Suggs, 23, was named to the NBA’s All-Defense second team last year, and has been a big part of Orlando remaining sturdy despite a barrage of injuries to other key players. At different points earlier this season, the Magic lost star forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to oblique tears, an unusual injury for basketball players that’s more common in baseball. Banchero could return soon, as he is in the reconditioning stage of his recovery. The Magic also lost Moritz Wagner to a second-ending ACL tear two weeks ago, while Gary Harris and Anthony Black are also currently out of the lineup with injuries.
The Magic came into the game in Toronto at 20-15, fourth in the Eastern Conference.
“It’s kind of been an unfortunate thing this season,” reserve guard Cory Joseph said. “We’ve had guys going down. We just know it’s a next-man-up mentality. But definitely, we wanted to pull this one out for (Suggs), for Mo (Wagner), Franz, Paolo and Gary and AB. Too many people, right?”
(Top photo: Nick Turchiaro / Imagn)
