Cole Anthony wears his emotions on his sleeve. That is part of his appeal and part of why he is a beloved player on the Orlando Magic’s roster.
He is all about his teammates and pumping them up. He celebrates every win in the loudest possible way. His postgame news conferences are legendary.
This year has been a difficult one for him. His shot betrayed him. The Magic seemingly moved on from him. He fell out of the rotation. His frustration was written all over his face even if he understood the reasons and got the answer straight up from his coach when that decision was made.
This is the NBA though. Eighty-two games is a long time. A team will need everyone on their roster at some point. The injury bug hits everyone. And Anthony knows as well as anyone he has to be ready.
The wheel spun toward Anthony again Monday. Jalen Suggs was out with a strained hamstring suffered in the first half of Saturday’s win. Gary Harris left in the first quarter with a strained hamstring of his own. Orlando needed Anthony to step up.
Especially considering the Magic could not hit a shot for the first three quarters of their 95-84 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Relief is probably not the right word. But it certainly felt like it from the moment Anthony stepped on the floor. With a clear role to finish this game, Anthony looked like himself again.
He scored 16 points off the bench on 6-for-12 shooting and 2-for-4 shooting from three. He had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists against one turnover.
“It’s cool man. I put a lot of work in,” Anthony said. “When stuff doesn’t go your way, it’s hard to cope with that. I do what I can to stay ready. By the Lord’s blessing, shots fell tonight. I would love to do it again.”
It was by far the best game of his frustrating season. And every point felt necessary considering the team’s offensive struggles. It was Anthony’s three-pointer in the fourth quarter that sparked the team’s run to take the lead. He was the one who finally got the lid off the basket.
It was a relief for him too.
Anthony entered the game averaging just 3.8 points per game and shooting 33.3 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from three. If offense was his most reliable skill, he has struggled to keep it up. It is why he fell out of favor.
But everyone will be called upon at some point in the season. It is on them to be ready. And Anthony was ready Monday night.
“He’s a professional,” Jonathan Isaac said. “Sometimes it’s just not your night. and sometimes you don’t have the opportunity for it to be your night. He’s kept his head down and waited for the opportunity. It happened to be this game. He’s a big reason why we won this game”
Every team will say the cliché: “next man up” at some point during the season. They will ask players to step into the rotation when players inevitably miss games due to injury. The best teams find a way to survive. Their bench players step up when their number is called.
Anthony’s number was called and he stepped up when the team needed him.
The question will be how long he has to wait for the next opportunity.
