How the Magic bounced back against Suns

The Magic's historically bad loss felt like a culmination of the team's inconsistency and poor habits that have been built up throughout the season, especially over the last three weeks.

Heading home, they needed to wash whatever taste that was out of its mouth. And the player who helped ignite the fire was none other than Jalen Suggs, who had his fingerprints all over the start of the game. He had nine points, three assists and three steals in the first quarter alone, finishing with a 20-8-7-4 steal stat line in 38 minutes.

There was also some chippiness between Paolo Banchero and Dillon Brooks -- which is to be expected in a game involving Brooks -- plus Devin Booker and Paolo Banchero. There was no love lost between these two teams; four technicals were called, including one on Franz Wagner, who missed his 22nd straight game (ankle).

Too many fouls and turnovers ... everywhere:

If you were looking for a good, clean game, this 48-minute battle was anything but that.

When you look up and see the Magic have *gulp*21 turnovers after three quarters, that's not a good sign. The Suns also had 16 turnovers. Both teams took care of the rock slightly more in the final quarter, but still combined to cough up the rock 45 times, resulting in 44 points off turnovers.

The Magic's 25 turnovers mark only the third time in franchise history that they have 25-plus turnovers in two-straight games. The last time they did it was in Feb. of 2007.

Moreover, while half of this game felt like the two teams handing the ball to each other on a silver platter, the other half felt like it was at the free-throw line. Both teams shot 76 combined free throws, including 41 from the Magic, their second-most in a single game this season

Bench production ≠ impact:

On paper, the Magic bench was fairly productive. They scored 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including 12 apiece from Jett Howard and Jamal Cain.

As many of us have learned over our years (or decades, depending on how old you are) of watching basketball, the box score doesn't tell the whole story. Apropos to how this season has played out, the Magic bench has oftentimes been ... quite underwhelming.

Now, there's a reason why bench players are, well, bench players; you're not expecting the same consistency on a night-to-night basis. But whenever either Suggs or Paolo Banchero went to the bench, all H-E-double hockey sticks broke loose. This bench simply isn't good enough to go 10 deep at this stage of the season, especially when multiple players are out with injury.

Desmond Bane continues to stay clutch:

Death, taxes, Desmond Bane coming up with a huge bucket late:

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• Orlando Magic's latest embarrassment should be end for some