Franz Wagner didn’t just lead the Orlando Magic past the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. He authored the kind of night that changes the shape of a game, and maybe the way Orlando sees itself right now.
The Magic beat Milwaukee 107-99 to pick up their second NBA Cup win, and Wagner finished with the first triple-double of his career: 35 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, with the final board slipping away in the closing moments. He shot 13-of-22 from the floor and turned it over just three times. For a team that had entered the night as one of three in the NBA without a home win and riding a five-game skid at home, it was a needed break in the pattern.
Orlando’s work on Tyler Herro helped set the tone. The Bucks guard finished with 18 points on 5-of-17 shooting and 2-of-7 from 3-point range.
He found a few openings, but the Magic made him earn everything, staying physical at the point of attack and cutting off one of Milwaukee’s main sources of shot creation. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Ryan Rollins were the exceptions, but for the most part Orlando made life difficult.
Wagner was the engine on the other end, and his jumper is starting to come around at the right time. Through the first eight games, the 6-foot-10 German wing had been at just 19.4 percent from 3-point range after finishing below 30.0 percent from deep over his final three seasons. He could still get to his spots, but defenses were able to crowd him and duck under screens because the shot wasn’t falling.
That’s been changing over the past week. Wagner hit three threes Friday, giving him a third game in his last four with at least that many.
Over that stretch, he’s shooting 35.7 percent from deep on seven attempts per game. It’s a small sample, but it matters.
The Bucks also had no answer for Orlando’s size once the Magic created an advantage. Goga Bitadze turned in one of his most productive offensive outings of the season, scoring a season-high 10 points on five made field goals, all of them lobs. When Wagner and the guards got downhill, Orlando kept attacking the Bucks’ lack of frontcourt athleticism and used Bitadze and Wendell Carter Jr. as vertical threats.
Desmond Bane nearly made a little team history of his own. No Magic player has ever hit seven threes in back-to-back games, and after he drilled seven in Wednesday’s win over Utah, he came close to doing it again.
Bane finished with 21 points and six made threes in 35 minutes, going 6-of-10 from deep. He made six of his first seven attempts, then missed his final three.
He also went 7-of-13 from the free-throw line.
Even with the offense stalling in the fourth quarter, Orlando found enough to close it out. The win moved the Magic to 5-7 and gave them their third straight victory of the season. They’re now 2-0 in NBA Cup group play with a plus-15 point differential, and their next Cup game comes Nov. 20 at Barclay’s Center against the Brooklyn Nets.
In Other News...
Tyler Herro Adds More Drama To A Bucks Night Going Sideways
A rough night for Milwaukee on the scoreboard got a little noisier in the stands when Tyler Herro got into a verbal exchange with a heckling fan during the Bucks game against Orlando. The Bucks spent most of the night chasing the Magic, and Herros own line through three quarters reflected the frustration around the building, with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Herro has already been part of his share of off-court drama, including a previous altercation with former teammate Bam Adebayo, so the back-and-forth only added to the sense that this was a game going sideways in more ways than one. It also came against the backdrop of Milwaukees broader struggles since the major trade involving Giannis Antetokounmpo, a stretch that has left the Bucks searching for steadier footing on and off the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Trade Search Is Heating Up At A Crucial Time
With the February 11 trade deadline drawing closer, the market is already starting to take shape, and one of the more interesting developments involves the Brooklyn Nets. According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Brooklyn is expected to explore moving some of its veteran players, with Michael Porter Jr. among the names mentioned as the team weighs its options.
For Milwaukee, any shift in the Easts trade landscape is worth watching, especially if a player of that caliber becomes available. Fischers report also notes that other teams are beginning to sort through their own trade considerations, but for now the bigger story is that the deadline conversation is heating up at a time when front offices are still trying to separate real opportunities from league-wide noise. [Read more 🡒]
Bucks Let Another Winnable Game Slip Away For A Familiar Reason
The Bucks had a chance to steady themselves in their second NBA Cup game, but instead they let another winnable one slip away against Orlando, which picked up its first home win of the season. Myles Turner returned from rest and gave Milwaukee a solid night, leading the team with 14 points and 11 rebounds while shooting efficiently from both the field and beyond the arc.
Still, the familiar issues were hard to ignore. Tyler Herro and Brayden Burries never found much rhythm offensively, and Milwaukees shaky work at the free-throw line again left points on the table in a game the Bucks could have controlled. For a team trying to build momentum in tournament play, the frustrating part is how recognizable the script has become. [Read more 🡒]