LAS VEGAS — Jalen Suggs didn’t have much of an answer when he was asked to describe the injury that kept him out of most of the fourth quarter during Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal against the Knicks.
“I don’t even know,” the Magic guard said in the locker room when asked what happened after Orlando lost 132-120 to New York at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “We’ll figure out what it is.”
The Magic said during the game Suggs was dealing with a sore left hip and that he was questionable to return when he exited with 7:35 left in the final fame.
Suggs, who scored 25 of his 26 points in the first half against the Knicks, didn’t make his way back and Magic coach Jamahl Mosley used the same injury description as the team after the contest.
“He was getting beat up a lot,” Mosley said about Suggs who used a wheelchair to get to the team bus to avoid a long walk post-game. “Right now, it’s a sore hip.
“We’re going to look at it when we get back, but at the end of the day, he’s a warrior for being out there dealing with what he’s been dealing with,” he added.
Suggs appeared to be in pain when he was fouled with 31.5 seconds left in the first half, grabbing his left side on the floor. He remained in the game, however, and played almost nine minutes in the third quarter.
He was later bumped on his left hip by Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns with six minutes remaining in the third and let out a yell when he went down again.
Suggs exited with about three minutes left in the third and returned three minutes into the fourth. Two minutes later, however, the Magic committed a foul to get a break in action to let Suggs make his way to the locker room.
“It’s the part that sucks the most,” Suggs said about dealing with injuries. “I truly tried (to play). There’s nowhere else I would have rather been on the court battling with my guys, especially in a close game. But (God) be having others plans, and I can’t be angry at his plans.”
Suggs, who was in clear pain in the locker room, is all too familiar with injuries.
He missed 47 games last year and underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery in early March to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee. Prior to Saturday’s game, he had missed four to manage the left knee and another contest in mid-Nov. due to a sore right groin.
His teammates have noticed his toughness when he’s on the court.
“He’s been battling through some pain the last few games,” Magic forward Paolo Banchero said. “He’s just been giving it his all for the team and kind of playing through it, so you hope it’s not too bad, whatever injury it is. You don’t want to lose him. He gave us a great effort in that first half. Unfortunately, he couldn’t go in the second half.”
Added guard Desmond Bane: “We know who he is and what he’s about. He wants to win more than anything. He laid it all on the line for us.”
Orlando (15-11) will travel back home Sunday before heading back out west later this week to open a four-game road trip that starts Thursday at Denver and ends next Tuesday at Portland.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
