Everyone could feel the air rushing out of the balloon when the team announced Jalen Suggs had suffered a cartilage tear in his knee and would need arthroscopic surgery. While initially, they seemed to hold out hope that Suggs might return before the end of the season, he is out for the rest of the season.
As Suggs tells it, he was nearing the final stage in his comeback when he felt his knee swell and had the MRI that revealed the trochlear injury.
To say the least, the team was deflated a bit by this news.
Throughout the previous weeks, they held out hope they would be healthy soon. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman explained after the trade deadline that one of the reasons they held onto their long-term assets was because of the hope of being fully healthy soon.
In the end, the Magic's main trio of Jalen Suggs, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner played only 97 minutes together across six games. Because Suggs did not play, this team's potential remained a mystery.
Indeed, this season could be split between the time before Suggs' injury—21-15–and the time after Suggs' injury—9-20 since Suggs' injury.
It is safe to say that Suggs is one of the most critical players on teh Magic's roster.
But he is not the only sparkplug the team has lost. He is not the only thing this team is missing.
As critical as missing Suggs has been, the Magic have been hit with the double whammy of losing both of their key energy players. Losing Moe Wagner has been just as costly for the Magic.
"I think they miss him every bit as much," Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers said before Saturday's game (via Mason Williams of Magic on SI). "Both Suggs and Wagner were their instigators. They were physical. They were both tough. Moe just does it because he does it. And I think missing those two guys absolutely hurt their team."
The Magic's season has been all about surviving injuries from the start when Paolo Banchero went out with a torn right oblique. About a month later, the Magic lost Franz Wagner to a torn oblique too.
But through it all, the Magic stayed afloat and stayed in position to fight for homecourt advantage. A big part of that was the team's effort and intensity. And that came from several players. Notably from Suggs and Moe Wagner.
Wagner was in the midst of a career season, averaging a career-high 12.9 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game. Wagner was a great scorer from the post and still leads the team with 36.0 percent shooting from three.
More than that, Wagner has a never-back-down attitude. He is not afraid to talk and try to get under opponents' skins and instigate. Like Suggs, he feeds a lot off the energy from the crowd—both for and against him.
This has been an element the team has missed as they sank down the standings.
"I think finding that energy without those guys is different," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said before Saturday's win in Milwaukee. "I think our guys are doing a good job mustering it up at times. We just have to do it in different ways. I think it is focusing in and paying attention more to details of the things that we do, understanding game plans, and understanding personnel. Those small details are going to continue to matter."
The team has been trying. But the absence of both Suggs and Wagner have hurt this team. It is undeniable.
While Suggs rightfully grabs many headlines, Wagner's energy and production have been difficult to replace since he went down for the year with a torn ACL on Dec. 21.
The Magic went 2-3 in the five games between Wagner's injury and Suggs' initial injury. It was not the dramatic sinking the team has had since Jalen Suggs' injury and the struggles to reintegrate Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner back into the mix.
Wagner is not expected back until early December. But he is still progressing in his rehab at the AdventHealth Training Center, even already taking set shots (no jumping) after a recent Magic practice. He is back behind the bench with the team for home games at least.
Losing Wagner took away one of the Magic's best offensive players and someone who understood his role to score. He was a stabilizing force off the bench especially.
The Magic were fifth in the league with 40.0 points per game from reserve players before Wagner's injury. They are 20th in the league with 33.1 per game since.
That makes sense of course, the Magic have played a chunk of that time without Suggs too. That brought Cole Anthony off the reserve group and into the starting lineup, leaving bench scoring to Anthony Black, an improved offensive player, but an inconsistent threat to score; rookie Tristan da Silva; and defensive-minded bigs like Jonathan Isaac and Goga Bitadze.
Orlando's offensive shortcomings became far more apparent with the team shuffling two key offensive players into the starting lineup or losing them off the bench. Part of Orlando's formula for success this year and even last year—the team was fourth in bench scoring last year with 41.5 points per game—involved scoring off the bench.
The Magic have greatly missed that this year. Finding better offensive depth will be one of the goals for the team's offseason (health will help).
The Magic have struggled to replace the intangibles both Suggs and Wagner provided. That has gutted them of their identity as a hard-working, effort-based team. It has been too hard to overcome losing both Suggs and Wagner.
Orlando is still working to do so though before the season runs out.