It has been a rough season for Orlando Magic point guard Cole Anthony. While the Magic are currently the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with an 18-12 record, the 24-year-old point guard has had little impact in any team successes. Now in his fifth season, Anthony was one of the better bench scorers in the league entering 2024-25. Prior to Saturday’s game, he was struggling all around and receiving his least playing time.
Saturday saw Orlando have an outstanding comeback win against the Miami Heat, in a game where Moritz Wagner left with what might be a substantial knee injury.
Cole Anthony’s Rough Season Takes Turn For The Better Saturday
Cole Anthony Helps To Spark Wild Comeback Saturday
Down 12 points after one quarter, 20 at halftime, and 22 after three quarters, it just didn’t seem like the Magic’s night on Saturday. That was doubly true with the injury suffered to Wagner. Orlando is shorthanded as is with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner (Moritz’s brother) both out with a torn oblique. Jalen Suggs missed the Heat game with an ankle injury.
With Suggs out, Anthony was one of the beneficiaries with more playing time. In the huge comeback win, the 6-foot-2 Anthony finished just two points shy of tying his career-high of 37 points. He settled for 35, but 27 of them came in the second half in Orlando’s wild win.
Anthony didn’t let the game get to far out of reach in the third quarter as he shot 6-9 from the field and 2-3 from long distance. He once again shot 6-9 from the field in the fourth stanza. It was a performance, particularly in the second half, that reminded Magic fans of the occasional heater Anthony would go on in previous years.
The 15th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Anthony more than doubled his previous season-best scoring outing of 16 points, which he had done twice. With the season he’s been having, Magic fans hope Saturday’s contest is a sign of Anthony turning around his year.
It Has Been A Struggle All Year For Magic Point Guard
Coming into Saturday’s game, Anthony had been experiencing the worst season of his NBA career. His 11.0 minutes per game was less than half of what he received in any of his previous four seasons. He was averaging just 5.1 points on career-worsts across the board in his shooting splits of .380/.314/.719. Anthony even received three dreaded DNP-CD this season.
After starting 34 of 47 appearances as a rookie in 2020-21, and becoming a full-time starter the following season, Anthony has mostly been utilized as a reserve since. His scoring efficiency improved greatly in his third and fourth seasons when compared to his first two. He still averaged double figures in scoring as well.
The Magic have improved their backcourt depth in recent years making Anthony have more to compete with for minutes. Suggs was selected fifth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. Anthony Black was taken with the sixth overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The team added Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency in the 2024 offseason.
The Magic are slowly becoming flooded with injuries to some of their top scorers. It’s up to Anthony to continue showing head coach Jamahl Mosley he can provide offense when Orlando is in need of it. The Magic’s next game is Monday at home against the defending champion Boston Celtics.
