Orlando

Magic

Suggs has dealt with back, quad and knee issues that have kept him out for all but one game since January 3. While he’s considered out indefinitely, it’s difficult to imagine he returns to action before the end of the season. Suggs can be dropped in fantasy leagues while Cole Anthony and Anthony Black handle the point guard minutes for Orlando.

Carter Jr. continues to start at center for the Magic, but it hasn’t resulted in a massive leap in production. He has been solid on the glass, grabbing double digit rebounds in three of his last five starts. Carter Jr. remains the best fantasy center in Orlando, but neither he nor Goga Bitadze has provided standard league in recent weeks. Carter Jr. ranks just inside the top-150 in nine-cat leagues over the past two weeks.

Per usual, Wagner and Paolo Banchero were the main sources of offense for Orlando. They combined to score 68 of Orlando’s 115 points, which wasn’t enough to counter Stephen Curry’s 56 points. Wagner has had a spectacular season, though he has been quieter in recent weeks. That can likely be attributed to sharing the ball and court with Banchero. Wagner ranks just outside the top-75 in nine-cat leagues over the last two weeks, a far drop from his season-long value of just outside the top-25.

Golden State didn’t have an answer for Banchero early on in this game, which allowed him to score 24 points in the first half alone. Banchero wasn’t quite able to match his first half scoring total after the break, but he was able to get over 40 points for the second time this season and the first time since October. Banchero also shot a high percentage from the floor, which was great to see after he went eight straight games making less than 50 percent of his shot attempts. He’ll look to keep this going into Orlando’s final game of the week, which is a home matchup with Toronto on Sunday.

Anthony suffered a knee injury Tuesday against Cleveland and left that game early. Evidently, the injury isn’t severe, and he’ll be back in action without missing a game. Anthony should handle his typical workload.

Anthony didn’t return after hurting his knee against the Cavaliers on Tuesday but went through shootaround Thursday. He’s been starting at point guard lately, but could be replaced by Anthony Black if Anthony is not healthy enough to play.

With Jalen Suggs sidelined indefinitely, Anthony’s injury opens up more minutes for Anthony Black in Orlando’s rotation.

Wagner had scored at least 20 points in three straight games and five of his last six games but struggled a bit against the Cavaliers. He was just 9-of-21 from the field including 1-of-3 from behind the three-point line and didn’t attempt a free throw Tuesday. It was always going to be a difficult matchup against one of the best teams in the league in Cleveland. The good news is Wagner continues to operate as a primary offensive weapon alongside Paolo Banchero.

Banchero haș now scored at least 20 points in five of his last six games and shot at least 40 percent from the field in all but three games in February. The 22-year-old power forward has shown an ability to get to the foul line and knock down his free throws of late as he’s made at least seven free throws in five of his last six games. His three-point shot has been another story as he continued to struggle with a 1-of-7 performance from behind the three-point line Tuesday. Banchero will look to turn that around Thursday against the Warriors.

Anthony was defending Donovan Mitchell in the third quarter of Tuesday’s game against the Cavaliers when he suffered an apparent knee injury. The 24-year-old point guard was helped to the locker room and quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game. Anthony Black will pick up additional minutes with Anthony out. It’s unclear how severe the injury might be at this time.