ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic’s health once again came into focus as two key players missed Saturday’s 114-110 overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Big man Wendell Carter Jr., who’s in the midst of a breakout season, missed his second consecutive game because of a sprained left wrist that Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said had been giving Carter “a hard time throughout the year.”
Mosley added that Carter may have aggravated the injury during Friday’s practice. Carter missed Wednesday’s road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder because of a sprained left wrist and ankle.
With Carter out, the Magic, led by Franz Wagner’s 19 points (9 of 21), nine rebounds and three assists, relied on balanced scoring and a strong second-half defensive performance to stay in Saturday’s game after trailing 41-28 at the end of the first quarter.
The Magic led 105-98 with 1:14 remaining in regulation, but poor defensive rebounding and fouls allowed the Kings, led by Davion Mitchell’s 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, to get back into the game.
Mitchell’s layup after stealing the ball from Cole Anthony (14 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) with 14 seconds left in the fourth tied the game at 105 heading into overtime.
Anthony made a step-back corner 3 to give the Magic a 110-107 lead with 1:51 remaining, but the Kings responded with 3-pointers from Donte DiVincenzo and Harrison Barnes to take a 113-110 lead with 12 seconds left.
Anthony missed a potential game-tying corner 3 with 9 seconds to go.
Mo Bamba finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Markelle Fultz had a season-high 16 points (7 of 14) and three assists for the Magic.
Jalen Suggs also sat Saturday for his sixth consecutive absence because of a bone bruise in his right ankle. He’s missed eight of the last 11 games because of an injury to the right ankle, the bone bruise or a sprain he had been dealing with for most of the month.
Suggs has been seen running during practices and shootarounds but hasn’t practiced in a week.
Mosley made it clear that if Suggs, the No. 5 pick in last year’s draft, is healthy enough to play, he’ll be on the court but hasn’t ruled out the possibility of shutting down Suggs to ensure he’s fully healthy ahead of offseason training.
“Those are conversations we’re going to have to have,” Mosley said. “You’d like to see him on the court at some point, but it’s not going to be to the detriment of his health.”
With seven games in 14 days remaining after Saturday, including Monday’s road matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, some organizations in the Magic’s position — rebuilding teams who are out of playoffs contention with their own first-round draft pick — might consider shutting down younger players to make sure injuries don’t interrupt their training and linger into the following season.
The Thunder, who have one of the league’s worst records, announced Saturday rookie Josh Giddey will miss the rest of the season because of hip soreness that’s forced him to miss all of March.
At this stage in the season, the need to push through lingering injuries is lessened.
“For me, it’s about making sure they’re healthy more than anything,” Mosley said. “I understand their ability to push through, but you don’t want guys to continue to have nagging injuries going through the summer. So you make sure they’re healthy all the way before they step on the floor.”
