ATLANTA — Of the 74 five-man lineups that Magic coach Jamahl Mosley has used throughout Orlando‘s first seven games, his opening night starting five has played the most minutes together.
And so far, the results have been mostly positive for the Magic.
Although it’s a small sample size, the first group of Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr., has posted a plus-22 net rating in its 56 minutes played together, according to NBA.com.
Despite starting the season 1-4, Orlando (3-4) has since won two games in a row, and Suggs believes they’re continuing to improve as they implement newcomer Bane and a faster-paced offense.
“It’s coming along pretty well,” Suggs said after practice Monday on the campus of Georgia Tech. “It’s early. It’s so easy to look at these things and call them ‘big, glaring problems,’ and then you forget there’s 70-plus games left.
“So, we’re really just trying stay even keeled, and we’re doing a really good job of that,” he added. “We’re coming in every day in practice and using that time intentionally to have conversations, to have discourse about what we’re seeing, feeling and what we want to do. And it’s starting to show.”
Their next test comes Tuesday night at State Farm Arena when the Magic close out a seasonlong five-game, nine-day road trip against the Hawks on NBC.
Atlanta (3-4) left Kia Center on Oct. 24 with a 4-point win in the second game of the season, something that’s still fresh in the minds of the Magic.
“We’ve got to have a big sense of urgency,” Suggs said. “A team that just beat us last week at home, one that we really wanted, there’s a lot of free motivation, which I think we’ll use correctly.
“The situation that we’re in, with the ability to close out a road trip after we took some tough ones in the beginning, to close it out with three straight wins going back home would be huge,” he added.
Wagner’s work
One Magic player who hasn’t been with the team on this trip is backup center Moe Wagner.
Instead, the older Wagner brother remained in Orlando to continue rehabbing a left knee torn ACL he suffered last December.
“Moe is on an unbelievable program,” Mosley said after practice. “He continues to work, still the non-contact stuff is happening, but he’s just on the court back home, getting his strength right.
“I know he speaks with Franz and they talk a ton, but we probably should FaceTime him pretty soon here, but we’ll be back in a couple days,” the Magic coach added. “Moe’s spirit is always good. He’s missed when he’s not these trips, but … he knows exactly what he needs to get himself back right.”
Moe Wagner could eventually join the team away on shorter trips but, for now, the team wants him working at the franchise’s AdventHealth Training Center, which opened in August 2022.
“It’s important that he gets the use of that amazing facility at home,” Mosley said.
Return to NBC
With the NBA back on NBC this season for first time in over two decades, the Magic are playing Tuesday on the network for the first time April 27, 2002.
Mosley recalled the heyday of NBA on NBC and was pleased to see it return.
“You just remember the opening [theme], just exactly how it sounded,” he said. “And the excitement of being able to watch those games. Back then it was like only one of two games on that day.
“But just the ability to have that back on NBC, for the league, for our team, for our guys, it’s exciting times.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic at Hawks
When: 8, Tuesday, State Farm Arena
TV: NBC/Peacock
