Wagner, Magic take down Celtics
ORLANDO, Fla. — Moritz Wagner scored 27 points as the Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics 113-96 on Friday for their sixth straight win, throwing the Eastern Conference’s Group C up for grabs in the NBA’S inaugural In-season Tournament.
Paolo Banchero had 23 points and seven rebounds for Orlando. Franz Wagner finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Cole Anthony came off the bench with 16 points.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 26 points. Jaylen Brown added 18 but made just 2-of-16 shots after scoring 12 points in the first 10 minutes.
Jalen Suggs hit two of the Magic’s four 3-pointers on a 17-0 run after Boston had taken a 62-50 lead early in the third quarter. The Celtics missed all eight shots during the game-changing run and went scoreless for 4:42.
The Magic finished 3-1 in group play.
The loss dropped Boston to 2-1 with a game at home against Chicago coming up on Tuesday night. The Brooklyn Nets, who beat the Magic, are also 2-1 pending a game against Toronto on Tuesday night. Friday’s score left the Magic with a
plus-17 point differential in group play and the Celtics are at zero.
Boston center Kristaps Porzingis left the game in the third quarter with tightness in his left calf after scoring nine points and taking down four rebounds.
The Celtics also played without Jrue Holiday, who missed his first game of the season with a sprained right ankle.
Sam Hauser’s 3-pointer gave Boston an 11-point lead, the largest of the first half, after a first quarter in which Orlando shot 8for-22 from the field with
eight turnovers.
LA’S Hachimura out indefinitely
The Lakers, who have had their share of injury struggles early in the season, were dealt another blow Friday when the team announced Rui Hachimura underwent surgery to repair a nasal fracture.
Hachimura sustained the injury Wednesday in the Lakers’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He will be reevaluated in a week.
Hachimura is averaging 11.8 points as one of the
Lakers’ primary reserves. He joins a group of injured players that includes Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish, who injured his groin this week.
The Lakers said testing on Reddish didn’t show major damage and hope he’ll return shortly. He’s listed as day-to-day.
It’s the second time Hachimura has been sidelined this season; he suffered a concussion in the third game and missed the next four.
The Lakers begin a four-game road trip Saturday in Cleveland.