Wagner’s career-high isn’t enough to get Magic past Bucks
While the Orlando Magic did not have lofty goals headed into the 2021-22 season, this year was at least expected to serve as a great opportunity for the team’s many young players to earn significant playing time and further their development.
But thanks to a mix of injuries and health protocol issues, many of those high-upside players continue to be unavailable.
Ten players were inactive for the Magic’s 127-110 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday at Amway Center, including guard Cole Anthony who was out for a second straight game stemming from his previously sprained right ankle. Guard Jalen Suggs (thumb) and center Mo Bamba (COVID protocols) remained out after missing chunks of the season as well, while guard Markelle Fultz and forward Jonathan Isaac have yet to see the court at all due to lingering injuries from last year.
Suggs, who was selected fifth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft and was a clear priority for the Magic to develop going into the season, does not appear close to a return to the court after fracturing his thumb.
“He’s progressing along slowly,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We’re just going to take it over time and just kind of see how he goes over the next couple weeks.”
The goal has quickly shifted for the Magic from developing young talent to just trying to find a way through each game with limited personnel. That was an especially tall task Tuesday as Orlando faced one of the best players in the league in forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“His professionalism, his toughness, his mental toughness, the problems he creates defensively and offensively,” Mosley said of Antetok
ounmpo before the game. “We talk about him being a one-man fast break. This team goes as he goes and so being able to sit down and guard him with different players is going to be key.”
The Magic actually contained him, and they finished with an 11-8 edge in fast-break points.
Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 28 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Khris Middleton had 21 points, Jrue Holiday 18 points and 10 assists and Bobby Portis 19 and 7 rebounds.
Franz Wagner scored a careerhigh 38 points for the Magic, the third-highest total for a franchise rookie, to go with 7 rebounds. He helped them erase most of a 29-point deficit from the first half, aided by Wendell Carter (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Gary Harris (13 points) as the only other players to score in double figures.
The Bucks (23-13) were not hit nearly as hard by injuries and COVID issues as the Magic, with just three players inactive. That difference exacerbated what was already a tough matchup for Orlando.
The Magic learned before the game ended that guard Hassani Gravett, who signed his second 10-day contract on Monday, would have to enter health and safety protocols. He played 19 minutes Tuesday, finishing with 5 points and 4 assists.
Milwaukee has been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference even before winning the NBA Championship last season. Extending their win streak to 4, the Bucks had already beaten the Magic twice in November.
Orlando (7-28), meanwhile, couldn’t get its third home win of the season and entered with the secondworst record in the league.
The Magic will face the Bucks one final time on Dec. 30.