Jalen Suggs on Orlando Magic's Final Shot: 'Got a Good Look'
The Orlando Magic lost an 11-point fourth-quarter lead after crawling back in the second half to lose in heartbreaking fashion to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night in Mexico City, 120-119.
Despite the game being a back-and-forth with dramatic lead shifts, it came down to a final possession that resulted in Paolo Banchero missing a three with six seconds left on the clock.
The shot was not wide open, but it wasn’t a heavily contested shot, either. He took the shot as the shot clock was winding down, giving Atlanta minimal time to get a shot off if he had made it. After the game, guard Jalen Suggs, who was on the court for the final seconds, gave his opinion on Banchero’s shot selection.
“We trust people with the ball in his hands,” Suggs said. “You know, he made tough plays all night, tough shots all night. In those moments, you roll with him. He got a good look, he got it off. Those are the ones we believe he can make. We got a chance at the rebound.”
The Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks played in Mexico City's Arenea CDMX in an effort to promote the NBA internationally.
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Suggs was right. Banchero hit half of his 14 shots in the game and had made a three-pointer prior, so his pulling the trigger to win the game was not a bad choice.
Plus, the Magic out-rebounded Atlanta 47-36 in the game and grabbed an insane 18 offensive rebounds, so getting a second look at the basket was not out of the realm of possibility. Unfortunately, the Magic were unable to secure the ball despite having Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz under the basket, and Trae Young dribbled out the clock.
The Magic is a young team and sees close losses like this as a “learning opportunity,” per Suggs. Orlando will be able to keep games close all season, and closing them out will be a slower process than fans would probably like.
