{"id":164082,"date":"2026-02-21T20:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T20:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/164082\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T20:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T20:02:08","slug":"five-questions-before-magic-vs-suns-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/164082\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Questions Before Magic vs. Suns Matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\">The Orlando Magic are continuing their road trip against the Phoenix Suns.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/magic\/onsi\/news\/magic-set-another-franchise-record-in-rout-of-sacramento-01khwp7tsv1a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Magic came out on top<\/a> to start the second half of the season against the Sacramento Kings with 27 3-pointers, but it&#8217;s a new game with the Suns on deck. To learn more about the Suns current state of affairs, we spoke with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/suns\/onsi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Phoenix Suns On SI<\/a> publisher Donnie Druin.<\/p>\n<p>How serious is Devin Booker\u2019s latest injury?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">Nobody knows the extents of how serious it is, though it seems to be in the middle of missing just one or two games and missing extensive time. The Suns have played it extremely cautious with injuries this year, but Booker is somebody who will push to come back as soon as possible. He tried to push through the hip pain but was obviously uncomfortable and head coach Jordan Ott made a comment about saving Booker from himself post-game. So maybe not serious, but also not something to brush off, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kj0ncxejdfjnxjjara.jpg\" alt=\"Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker reacts in the three point contest\" title=\"Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker reacts in the three point contest\" width=\"3802\" height=\"2138\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6t\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker reacts in the three point contest. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>With Booker possibly out for a while, how will the Suns respond? Who steps up in his absence?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">The Suns, more than anything, will miss Booker\u2019s gravity on the floor that he affords other shooters, which has allowed Phoenix to hit three-pointers are a more successful rate than last season. Thankfully, Jalen Green emerged healthy after his 26-point outing on Thursday and will look to shoulder the load. Also, Dillon Brooks (averaging a career-high 21 points) is back from suspension and will give the Suns a boost.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Should the Suns have been more aggressive at the trade deadline?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">That\u2019s the golden question here in the desert. Many had hoped Phoenix would have made a bigger move, but with Jalen Green missing majority of time with his hamstring injury and Phoenix\u2019s success, they viewed him as their \u2018deadline acquisition\u2019 and opted to duck below the luxury tax. Ultimately, I think the Suns were wise to see how the final part of the season unfolded without touching the roster too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the Suns were to win today\u2019s game, what would be the reason why?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">I\u2019d say their biggest battery pack in Dillon Brooks being back. Phoenix is a team that thrives off their defensive physicality and hustle, and without their tone-setter against San Antonio, that was sorely missed. That, combined with Brooks needing to step up offensively with Booker and Grayson Allen questionable, would do the trick to get the Suns back in the win column.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s your prediction for the game?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">The Suns win in a close one that goes down to the wire. After some end-of-game free throws, give me Phoenix by three.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Magic are continuing their road trip against the Phoenix Suns. The Magic came out on top&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-164082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}