Jalen Suggs shines in return to Minnesota

There’s just something about playing at home for Jalen Suggs.

The Minnesota native tallied 111 wins to just 15 losses in four years at Minnehaha Academy from 2016-2020. Since getting drafted by the Magic in 2021, he’s won each of his three games at Target Center. The most recent iteration Friday truly saw him star, as Suggs scored 15 points while helping Orlando to a 108-106 win over the Timberwolves.

On the court, he looked fearless, but internally, he could not have been more nervous.

“My muscles were tight, stomach was in knots,” Suggs said after the game. “I kept seeing just faces in the crowd. I wanted to go talk to my people, share my love. This building is so special; I have a lot of memories here. But the unit, man, being able to share that with them and get the dub, which is all I wanted, all that with them, it made me happy. Smiles all around tonight.”

Suggs started slowly in the first half before heating up in the third. He knocked down three shots from beyond the arc, fueling a 17-point Orlando comeback win. His 15 points were his most in the last two weeks, and his 36 minutes tied for the third most he’s played in a game in his career.

It wasn’t just the scoring that came around for Suggs. The third-year guard filled out the stat sheet, adding six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Even more, he said Friday’s game was the most he had felt like himself in his young NBA career.

“It’s funny, I was saying that before the game, this almost felt like the first time [playing at home] again,” Suggs said. “These past three years, not only was I a shell of myself, but I was kind of living a life of somebody I wasn’t. A lot of prayer, talking to family and work on myself, I feel like myself again. So coming back here and being able to experience this all again, be me, to feel all the love here at Target Center again was super dope.”