The Orlando Magic have been ascending since the All-Star break, and Jalen Suggs has been a large part of that. Now, he is ready for the challenge Wednesday's visitors will provide.
Riding a four-game win streak, the Orlando Magic will look to defend home court against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. After shoot around, Jalen Suggs spoke with the media.
Since the All-Star break, the Magic are 7-3 and have the best defensive rating in the league, and Suggs attributed their success on that end of the floor to several factors.
“I think intention and communication have been the two biggest keys,” Suggs said. “I think under-intention follows your energy and your effort night in and night out. I said you've got to make the conscious decision to go play defense because it's not fun, it's physical, and it asks a lot of your body and mind to stay engaged on that end.
“I think everyone's done a great job. I think our talk has been really good, and especially once you get in a moment and the game starts, it's something that we're all holding each other accountable to.”
With the regular season winding down, the Magic’s results lately have also happened due to a rediscovered joy in what they are doing.
“Yeah. We've had multiple conversations just with the squad,” Suggs said. “Me and Des have had multiple conversations as well just in terms of playing with a smile and searching for a smile, not letting the game —although these games matter and they count, we all are taking them very seriously — that doesn't mean you can't laugh, you can't joke, and you can't do something to smile and have fun out there.
“I think finding a good balance of both of those is key. I think we're doing a great job of it right now. Our bench has really engaged the past couple games, and that's helped a ton.”
The Magic will have a test against the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the first two meetings of the season. Since then, Cleveland's roster has taken a significantly different form after adding James Harden, Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis at the trade deadline.
With a new look Cavs roster set to visit once again, Suggs is looking forward to the challenge.
“I mean, they had a great deadline,” Suggs said. “You add Ellis, you had Schroder to come off and run your second unit on top of James Harden. He's a good pickup, so it'll be a great challenge for us, as it should be. You know what I'm saying?That's exactly what we want. We're not ducking anything.
“This will only help us down the line, Suggs added. “And we might seed them down the line. I think for us, being engaged with them, trying to make James Harden life tough, and that second unit when Schroder comes in and plays a pretty similar role where he's conducting the pace and running that unit,trying to take both of them off their rhythm, keep them uncomfortable and play in our style of games where they don't get free easy ones.”
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