Magic’s Jalen Suggs shakes off injury and guarantees he’s healthy for Game 3 vs. Cavs

Every Magic fan’s heart came to a stop when they witnessed Jalen Suggs suffered what seemed to be a serious injury during Game 2 of the first-round playoff series against the Cavaliers. Despite hurting his left knee, the player went on to play most of the second half, but still wasn’t able to prevent his team from falling 0-2. 

The player seemed to shake off his pain, after he had been carried off the floor during the first quarter. The 22-year-old, who appeared to be crying as he hurt his knee, finished the match with 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in 29 minutes of play.

When asked about his health issue after the game, he seemed convinced that he’ll be back for Game 3 against Cleveland. “I’m good,” he said. “I was able to finish. It will be cool to get back home and get treatment for a couple of days. We play Thursday at 7 p.m. and I’ll be ready.”

Jalen Suggs went down with an apparent knee injury after a collision with Donovan Mitchell on this play.

Prayers up for Jalen 🙏pic.twitter.com/lDOA7Jj5Cm

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 22, 2024

His coach lamented the fact that Suggs went down when he did, because he was doing a strong job of defending rival star Donovan Mitchell. “It takes the wind out of your team when our head of the snake on defense goes down,” shared Jamahl Mosley. “He was in quite a bit of pain when he returned, so we’ll evaluate him when we get back home.”

Unfortunately for the Orlando team, once again their shooting efficiency was off. They went just 29 of 80 from the floor, and dropped in only 9 of 35 attempts from beyond the arc.

“It’s just the nature of the sport,” Suggs said about their precision. “You can do everything right and the shots don’t fall. We’re getting in there, but we’re not making them. Naturally, there is a tendency to get frustrated.”

Magic star Paolo Banchero, who was 9 of 20 last night, couldn’t hide his frustration. “We’ve got to make shots, that’s the name of the game,” he said. “It’s frustrating for everybody when you keep shooting and it’s not going in. The way these two games have gone, I don’t think anyone thinks this will continue when we come home.”

The Cavaliers roster have their feet on the ground as they know that winning two more games won’t come easy

The Cleveland club was led in points by their star Donovan Mitchel with 23 points, while Jarrett Allen contributed with 20 rebounds throughout Game 2. The team’s center explained why winning a third game won’t came easy against this Orlando squad.

“We know when we go to their place, they’re going to be a completely different team,” he said. “They’re going to have their home crowd behind them. They don’t want it to get to 3-0. They’re just going to try to come at us like we’ve been doing to them.”

However, Jarrett says the Cavaliers’ locker room is growing in confidence and seem to be playing better as a team, instead of just showing individual moments of brilliance.

“It’s very satisfying,” Allen expressed. “It shows that we’ve grown not only as a team but as individuals. We’re not folding under pressure. We do have our moments, but as a whole I feel like we’ve taken a huge step.”