Before tip-off Saturday night at Kia Center, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley sat courtside next to each other with Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff as the two talked together and watched closely as their respective teams warmed up.
The coaches, who have both worked in the league for two decades, consider themselves close friends. Their families have even vacationed together in the past.
But during last year’s first-round East playoffs series between the Magic and Cavs — and on Saturday night during Orlando’s 111-100 victory over Detroit — their friendship went by the wayside as it was all business on the court.
That’s just the competitive nature of the NBA and the reality of the coaching relationship between Mosley and Bickerstaff, who was fired by Cleveland in the offseason before he landed in Detroit (7-11).
The 11-point win was Orlando’s eighth straight at Kia Center and their eighth overall in the last nine games regardless of location.
Debuting their latest City Edition uniforms, the Magic outscored Detroit 52-40 in the paint and held an 19-10 advantage on fastbreak points.
Orlando (11-7) heads to Charlotte on Monday when the group searches for just its fourth road victory.
Wagner Way
Coming off a 37-point performance, that included a game-winning triple against the Lakers on Thursday, Franz Wagner picked up right where he left off.
The Magic forward buried his first pair of 3-point attempts and had 18 points by the break.
He went onto add two more from distance when he totaled 30 points and nearly notched himself a triple-double with 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
The contest marked Wagner’s second straight with 30-plus points and his fourth in the last five games.
“Just being dominant,” Mosley said about the standard Wagner’s set for himself. “Doing whatever it takes to impact the game, to make his teammates better, to score at the right time, to defend the right way, to make the right play — which is what we’ve said from the beginning of who this young man is.”
His older brother Moe Wagner was just as active on the offense end getting to the basket.
Providing a boost off the bench as he usually does, Moe totaled an efficient 18 points (7 of 11 FG) to go with 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Suggs’ injury update
Jalen Suggs left Saturday’s game less than two minutes into the second quarter and was listed as doubtful to return due to a sore left hamstring.
The Magic guard shot 1 of 3 from the floor for just 2 points in 9 minutes of action before he left the floor. He didn’t return to the contest.
“Sore left hamstring. So, we’re going to see how he responds to treatment,” Mosley said when asked post-game about Suggs’ status.
Anthony Black started the second half in place of Suggs. The second-year guard had a slow start (4 points in the first half) but pieced together a solid third quarter to finish with 11 points and 5 assists.
“They did a decent job in the third quarter coming out,” Mosley said of his group. “It’s a bit of an adjustment to make but when we decided to sit down and guard and take the 3 out of the game, and turn them over, that gave us a little bit of a spark.”
Rookie watch
Tristan da Silva made his 12th straight start and opened on the right foot when he hit his first triple of the night.
The No. 18 pick continued to do the small things right when he racked up 8 points with 6 rebounds and an assist.
“I’ve said it a bunch of times already, he’s playing awesome,” Franz Wagner said of da Silva. “Making quick reads, quick decisions. He’s always in the right spot. I’ve just been really impressed with his mentality.”
Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]
Up next …
Magic at Hornets
When: 7, Monday, Spectrum Center
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida
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