Summer League: Warriors fall to the Magic in OT as the rookies show promise

Despite solid flashes from the Warriors’ rookies, Jalen Suggs and the Magic pull out an overtime win

In the game of the day at the NBA Las Vegas Summer League, the Golden State Warriors opened their week with a 91-89 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic.

While wins and losses matter, the performances from Golden State’s two first-round selections are what Warriors fans came to see. And on Monday night, both Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody provided glimpses of the players they could become in the Bay Area.

In a seesaw battle down to the wire at the Thomas & Mack Center, Orlando made the final push to force overtime, erasing a 10-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.

No. 5 pick Jalen Suggs scored five of Orlando’s final 7 points in regulation to get the Magic into an extra session. Defensively, the former Gonzaga star made the play of the day in Las Vegas. With under a minute left in a tie game, Kyle Guy waited for Suggs to commit and dumped it off for what should have been the go-ahead layup by Moody. Suggs recovered to make the block without fouling, saving Orlando and providing the exclamation point on an impressive debut.

The Orlando rookie scored the first six points of overtime to put the Warriors away.

Despite Suggs’ heroics and a late loss, both Moody and Kuminga had moments that should have Warriors fans excited for the next chapter. Moody finished with 15 points and was a team-high plus-19 in just under 26 minutes. He showed the catch-and-shoot ability that NBA teams saw at Arkansas, while also creating angles in the lane and finishing at the rim.

While Kuminga went 0-4 from 3, he overpowered defenders when attacking the rim by using his rare combination of strength, burst and athleticism. The shot is still a work in progress, but that was something Golden State knew when selecting the G League Ignite star at No. 7.

The Warriors continue NBA Summer League action on Wednesday when they take on the Toronto Raptors at 5 p.m. PDT.