Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs will not need surgery for a fractured right thumb suffered on Monday in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the team announced.
Suggs appeared to suffer the injury in the fourth quarter after he was inadvertently slapped by 76ers center Joel Embiid on the hand. Suggs immediately grabbed his hand after the play and checked out with 4:20 left in the game.
He will be reevaluated every two weeks.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley credited Suggs for the toughness and resiliency he plays with on a nightly basis. He stressed that the team will need to rally around him to keep his spirits up as he begins to recover from the injury.
The kid is a fighter and that is the thing for him to have an injury but you just love his fight, resilience, toughness and competitive edge. It is tough for Jalen in this situation now but our guys will lift him up, keep him engaged and keep the fight going.
The injury to Suggs comes just as the fifth overall pick started to gain his footing in the NBA and turn the corner. He felt as though the game had started to slow down as he showed great control and poise running the team on a nightly basis.
Suggs is averaging 12.3 points, 3.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 21 games.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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