ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Magic starting guard Jalen Suggs practiced with his teammates on Wednesday but did not take part in contract drills, coach Jamahl Mosley said in post-practice interviews.

Suggs is expected to be out when Orlando plays its first game after the All-Star break on Thursday night in Atlanta, according to the NBA's official injury report on Wednesday night.

Thursday's game would mark the 22nd that Suggs has missed this season. He has only played in one game since injuring his back about 13 minutes into the Magic's game against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 3. Suggs, considered key to Orlando's defense, returned to play less than 16 minutes against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 25 before receiving a left quad contusion and has not played since then.

The Magic were ranked as high as the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference standings earlier in the season. Heading into Thursday night's game, they have dropped to No. 7 in the Eastern Conference standings, which would force them to win in the postseason play-in in order to advance into the playoffs. They are a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat in the standings, and a loss Thursday night could drop them to No. 8. Orlando lost at home to Atlanta 112-106 on Feb. 10, their penultimate game before the All-Star break, despite 68 combined points by forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. 

The Magic (27-29) have only 26 games remaining in the regular season to try to improve their rankings in the standings. They finished last season 47-35 for the fifth spot in the East and forced a Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers before getting knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. Orlando has a 6-14 record since Jan. 5.

Despite the urgency to win games the rest of the season, Mosley said the Magic cannot rush Suggs back before he is fully healthy.

"Every body responds to treatment and responds to different injuries differently. ...You want to treat it as such and not rush a process of getting him fully whole just to squeak back in to not be 100% on the court because he's trying to push through certain things," Mosley said. "It's so important we get him back fully healthy where there is no nagging pain as we go through it."

Mosley said he understands that the timing of Suggs' injury is challenging and that the Magic are running out of games to get wins before the end of the season, but he said that Suggs' health must be a priority.

"Getting it right is the most important thing....The longevity of this young man and his career is also very important to make sure that we're not rushing something back that is not all the way right. I think it's very important that we continue to stay all on the same page with that."

Mosley said the remaining Magic players will continue to play hard, and just need to focus on details, limit turnovers and pay attention to the game plan and film study and that should help them win games for the rest of the season.