Paolo Banchero continues to progress in recovery process as Magic prepare to face Knicks

BROOKLYN, N.Y.

Around the 5-minute mark in the second quarter of Sundays contest between the Magic and the Nets at Barclays Center, Orlando guard Jalen Suggs picked off a bad pass by Nic Claxton, and had nothing but free space in front of him.

As Suggs sprinted to the other end with the ball and elevated through the air, the fourth-year guard showed off his athleticism with a 360-degree two-handed slam.

While it was Suggs who made the highlight play, someone else in the background caught the eye of onlookers.

Magic forward Paolo Banchero quickly popped up off the bench, flexed his arms in celebration of Suggs dunk and spun around in place, imitating the dunk best he could.

Its the latest example of how Banchero whos been sidelined since suffering a torn right abdominal muscle Oct.

30 at Chicago has remained engaged with the Magic despite his long-term inaction.

For me, its hard not playing just mentally because Im so used to always playing, never having to really deal with any injuries, so I feel like the best way to combat that is just trying to do as much as everything else as I can with talking to my team, talking to my coaches, just being active on the bench and trying to be a good teammate, Banchero told the Sentinel and Magic On SI in the locker room Sunday night.

But celebrating his teammates from the bench isnt the only thing Bancheros done on Orlandos current 5-game road trip.

When the Magic practiced Saturday in New York City prior to defeating the Nets 100-92 Sunday , Banchero shared that, although hes still weeks away from returning, he was able to do some ball-handling and some spot shooting.

Im feeling good, he said.

I finally got to do some court stuff on this trip at practice.

It felt really good just to do that stuff again because I literally hadnt done anything in a month, so it was my first time like really getting to dribble a ball, shoot a ball, so it felt really good doing that.

Obviously, wasnt any sprinting or cutting or anything, but hopefully in the next few weeks I can start getting into more of that and just work my way back into playing shape, he added.

The work in practice was limited but progress nonetheless for Banchero, whos already missed 17 games and wont qualify this season for certain league awards, including All-NBA teams, due to his abdominal injury.

Last year was the first that the NBA enforced a 65-game rule, meaning players cant miss more than 17 in order to be eligible for end-of-season awards.

Tuesdays NBA Cup contest between the Magic (15-7) and Knicks (12-8) at Madison Square Garden will mark 18 games missed for Banchero.

But all is not lost.

Orlando is 12-4 since Banchero last played and is in the midst of its second 6-game win streak in that stretch.

The last time the Magic had two separate win streaks of 6-plus games during the same season was 2010-11.

Banchero described the situation as a chance for him to sit back and learn more not only about his team, but the game in general.

Sitting on the bench youve got a lot different of a perspective than being on the court, he said.

You see a lot more, you notice a lot more on both sides.

Its helped me just advance my knowledge.

[Ive] been watching more film, just trying to do what I can to be mentally sharp.

Coaches tell you all the time its a lot different watching the game on the bench than it is when youre in-and-out of the game, so I definitely understand what they mean now and its been fun just talking to them as well as the players, telling them what I see, how we can be better and what were doing well also, he added.

What hes seen is a complete takeover by rising-star counterpart Franz Wagner.

Wagner has averaged 25.1 points, 6.6 assists and 6.1 rebounds in the last 17 games and nearly recorded a triple-double Sunday at Brooklyn (9-12) with his 17th 20-point performance of the season alongside 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

Hes just really stepped up to the plate and you can see him getting more and more comfortable, Banchero said of Wagner.

He really understood what had to be done with his role being increased.

Every game hes just being really consistent with his leadership, with his output of ...

the team knows what hes going to do night in and night out, they know how hes going to play, what shots hes going to take, [and] they know hes going to make the right play every time.

So its been awesome to watch him and the rest of the team.

Were on a helluva run right now and its fun, he added.

Beedes Breakdown: How Magic outlasted Nets to win 6th straight The Magic are aiming for that run to continue on primetime national TV against the Knicks.

With both sides entering 3-0 in group play of the leagues in-season tournament, the matchup will determine the East Group A champion.

The loser still could advance to the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup as a wild-card team but wouldnt control its own destiny.

When the league schedule dropped in August, the Tuesday meeting was set to air on TNT.

After Bancheros injury and a slow start by both sides, however, the game lost its national TV spot in mid-November.

But, in a rare move, the NBA reversed course and shifted the game back to TNT , leaving Orlando with four scheduled national TV appearances still remaining in the regular season: Tuesday at New York (TNT), Dec.

19 vs.

Thunder (TNT), Jan.

17 at Boston (ESPN) and Feb.

25 vs.

Cleveland (TNT).

I dont know why they took it off [TNT], Suggs told the Sentinel on Sunday.

I dont know who didnt want to watch us play, but just to have it on [national] TV again, being in that environment, in MSG is ...

Those are things that I think weve all grown up watching primetime games in MSG.

We know the stakes that are on the game, outside of all that, but to put it on [national] TV definitely adds a bit of joy to it, he added.

Regardless of what led to the game being removed from TNT, Orlandos recent success combined with the implications of the Cup and the Knicks finding their own groove gave the league no choice but to revert the decision.

To be sure, the Magics previous 5-game losing streak in the immediate aftermath of Bancheros injury (a stretch that spanned Oct.

30-Nov.

6) still has an impact on the team, according to Suggs.

After beginning the season 1-6 away from Kia Center, Orlando has won five of its last six road games.

I wouldnt say it was completely forgotten, but we applied it to our work going forward, even still to now, Suggs said of the prior winless trip.

Were continuing to take things a game at a time [and] get better at every moment.

Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected].

This article has been shared from the original article on orlandosentinel, here is the link to the original article.