Wagner brothers turn the tide at Orlando Magic
Just before Christmas, the Wagner brothers Franz and Moritz finally give the Orlando Magic another win. Their German NBA colleagues record less pleasing results. Meanwhile, superstar LeBron James cements his legendary status.
After four defeats in a row in the NBA, basketball world champions Franz and Moritz Wagner have finally won again. On Saturday (local time), the brothers won 117:110 (73:60) with the Orlando Magic at the Indiana Pacers and stopped the team's longest losing streak of the season. With their 17th win in the 28th game of the season, the Magic defend fourth place in the Eastern Conference in the North American league.
The Magic scored 73 points in the first half and were mostly in the lead from the second quarter onwards, but Indiana cut the deficit to 101:102 with six-and-a-half minutes remaining. The visitors then responded with a 9:2 run. Franz Wagner scored nine of his 24 points in the final period, while Moritz Wagner added nine.
Dennis Schröder, on the other hand, is still struggling with the Toronto Raptors. The team from Canada lost 119:126 (71:55) at home to the Utah Jazz and conceded its eighth defeat in the last ten games. The Raptors thus remain outside the playoff places. The decisive factor was the fourth quarter, which the hosts lost by a clear margin of 21:41. Schröder scored eleven points and seven assists; in the past five games, the world champion has averaged 8.6 points, well below his season average.
40 points from LeBron James
The situation for two other German players also looked less pleasing shortly before Christmas: While Isaiah Hartenstein and the New York Knicks lost 111:130 to the Milwaukee Bucks led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Daniel Theis and the Los Angeles Clippers were beaten 108:145 by his former club Boston Celtics. Individually, however, the Germans put up good numbers.
Hartenstein, who started from the beginning, got the third most playing time in his team with just under 33 minutes. The center used this to score 12 points and grab 13 rebounds. Coming off the bench, Theis scored 15 points, converting both of his three-point attempts. However, the Clippers fell short of expectations across the board, with LA's best scorer being Paul George with 21 points. Boston, for whom Theis played from 2017 to 2021 and in 2022, consolidated its top position in the league - led by Jason Tatum, who shone with 30 points on the day before Christmas Eve.
After four defeats in a row, the Los Angeles Lakers were also successful again, with the team led by superstar LeBron James winning 129:120 (71:59) at the Oklahoma City Thunder. James set a personal season best with 40 points and, thanks to eleven points in the last four-and-a-half minutes of the game, the 38-year-old secured the Lakers their 16th win in their 30th game of the season.
The Detroit Pistons suffered their 26th defeat in a row with a 115:126 (56:65) defeat at the Brooklyn Nets. In doing so, they equaled the NBA negative record of the Cleveland Cavaliers (2010/11) and the Philadelphia 76ers (2013/14). Detroit have only won twice in 29 games this season.
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Source: www.ntv.de
