Finally a bit of positive for Orlando, which has never been unworthy since the start of the season despite the string of defeats and which saw the tide turn in the right direction last night in Charlotte. For the return of Jalen Suggs, the Floridians have indeed returned to victory after ten games of scarcity, with for “fun fact” the remarkable performances of the Wagner brothers, Franz and Moritz.
The rookie distinguished himself with a full game with 19 points (8/11 shooting), 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks while Moritz signed his second best offensive game in NBA career with 26 points. The tandem worked in particular in the 15-2 passed by Orlando in the last act to fly away to victory, savored at its fair value.
” It’s a lot of work. You work every day, in matches, in training and after a while, you want to see your efforts being rewarded, in particular by a victory. At one point, we thought we had to play to win, go get it. It’s clear that it matters.” Moritz pointed out.
A spirit of fraternity that reflects on the whole team
Especially since the Floridians had conceded five of their last six losses by 6 points or less. This time, the group did not dive at the time of conclusion.
“We have already seen this scenario since we have often found ourselves in close matches recently and where we have lost our temper a little, in particular by losing the thread defensively. You can miss shots, but you have to stick to the principles of the game plan. And if you stick to it, the game can once again swing in your favor. We have often experienced this lately. We were all motivated to change that, to say to ourselves: “This time, we keep our foot on the accelerator and we continue to play intelligently, as we should, without losing our composure”. I’m really happy it happened today.”, continued Moritz Wagner.
This season, it was rather Franz who had shown himself, going so far as to join the race for the rookie of the year after his remarkable month of December (19.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists) punctuated by a points to 38 points and a Rookie Of The Month trophy. This time it was Moritz Wagner who upped his game.
The association of the two has particularly brought to the Magic which has also been able to count on the relays of Jalen Suggs, RJ Hampton or even Gary Harris.
“They are two brothers, so you can say that they are linked, connected, that they have this cohesion. But what they did really well was that they not only looked for themselves, but they made the right choices for their teammates too. They also spoke to their teammates, with this competitive spirit that won over the whole team., for his part underlined Jamahl Mosley.
“We can talk to each other differently and we know how the other will take it. That level of understanding, with each other, helps a lot for sure.”
Inevitably, the connection between the “Wagner Bros. ” serves the Magic, as the two players know each other and do not hesitate to speak frankly to move forward.
“It’s true that it helps us in terms of communication, because we know each other so well. In any case, I feel it like that, because we can talk to each other differently and we know how the other is going to take it. That level of understanding, with each other, helps a lot for sure.”, acknowledged Moe.
For Franz, the presence of his big brother also offers him a not insignificant landmark on the ground.
“I watched a lot of Moe’s games in college, and of course in the NBA, so I kind of know what he’s looking for. He is an intelligent player, who will always try to make the right choice, who likes to pass and create for others too. Sometimes when I cut, he ends up in the corner, ready to shoot, so it’s quite easy to play with someone like him, who is really versatile. He makes a lot of things easier in attack.”.
It now remains to be confirmed with more regularity, hoping for the Magic that it will not be necessary to wait ten more games to taste victory again.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Cole Anthony | 28 | 34.0 | 40.4 | 34.4 | 85.8 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 19.8 |
| Franz Wagner | 42 | 32.1 | 45.0 | 35.8 | 84.6 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 15.6 |
| Wendell Carter, Jr. | 37 | 29.3 | 48.9 | 33.1 | 72.3 | 2.2 | 8.1 | 10.3 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 13.1 |
| Terrence Ross | 34 | 26.5 | 41.6 | 31.3 | 87.0 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 12.9 |
| Jalen Suggs | 21 | 27.7 | 33.9 | 25.5 | 76.3 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 12.3 |
| Gary Harris | 35 | 29.4 | 44.8 | 36.6 | 84.2 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 11.7 |
| Mohammad Bamba | 32 | 28.1 | 44.8 | 33.3 | 76.7 | 2.2 | 6.2 | 8.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 10.1 |
| Robin Lopez | 18 | 18.6 | 56.7 | 0.0 | 60.0 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 4.1 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 8.4 |
| Chuma Okeke | 31 | 23.2 | 35.3 | 23.8 | 87.5 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 7.3 |
| Rj Hampton | 38 | 19.5 | 38.7 | 37.4 | 60.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 7.3 |
| Bj Johnson | 4 | 16.1 | 44.0 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 6.5 |
| Moe Wagner | 32 | 11.5 | 45.0 | 33.3 | 79.2 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 6.5 |
| Hassani Gravett | 8 | 21.4 | 47.4 | 42.3 | 75.0 | 0.1 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.2 |
| Admiral Schofield | 11 | 15.9 | 53.7 | 35.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 4.6 |
| Tim Frazier | 10 | 20.0 | 30.2 | 35.3 | 55.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 3.7 |
| Mychal Mulder | 15 | 13.0 | 29.9 | 28.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 3.7 |
| Aleem Ford | 5 | 14.7 | 30.0 | 13.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 2.8 |
| Freddie Gillespie | 9 | 13.2 | 40.9 | 0.0 | 42.9 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.3 |
| Ignas Brazdeikis | 16 | 9.0 | 28.6 | 18.2 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 |
