Magic 'Rolling With The Punches', Taking Lumps After Suspensions

The Orlando Magic was short-handed in its loss against the Washington Wizards Friday night.

Jeremy Brener | Dec 31, 2022

Magic 'Rolling With The Punches', Taking Lumps After Suspensions /

ORLANDO - It's not easy playing an NBA game with just eight players, and the Orlando Magic learned that the hard way in Friday night's 119-100 loss against the Washington Wizards at home.

The team was stripped to the bare minimum after the league suspended nine players after Wednesday night's fight against the Detroit Pistons.

In order to field the necessary eight healthy players for the game, only six players (Cole Anthony, Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr., R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris and Moe Wagner) served their suspensions for Friday's game. The other three players (Kevon Harris, Admiral Schofield and Franz Wagner) will serve their one-game suspensions, along with Moe Wagner, who was suspended two games, in the team's next contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

While the Magic had good communication playing with a limited crew, shots struggled to fall against the Wizards, and the team paid the price.

"I think we had good energy coming out," rookie Paolo Banchero said. "I feel like we just couldn’t get shots to fall early and then we just had started having to play from behind. That’s pretty hard when you have eight players.

"We had a lot of good looks. They just didn’t fall. I think we’ve just got to roll with the punches sometimes and move on."

The Magic struggled out of the gates against the Wizards, but completed a 16-0 run in the second quarter to take a five-point lead. But then Washington ran away with it, building a lead as large as 30.

For a young team still trying to find its identity, there are positive takeaways even in a difficult loss.

"Brought all [of] their energy tonight and obviously it’s not an easy task," Franz Wagner said. "I think that you saw that in the third quarter a little bit but I think we made some strides in the right direction. Obviously, not entirely the game that we wanted but like I said, I think we can take some things from this.”

The Magic will enjoy some time off before returning to the court Wednesday to face the Oklahoma City Thunder at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Magic? Click Here.

Follow The Magic Insider on Facebook.

Follow The Magic Insider on Twitter.

Want even more Orlando Magic news? Check out the SI.com team page here.

Published Dec 31, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.