Wagner Scores 35 as Magic Beat Bucks in Cup Play

Franz Wagner scored 35 points and the Orlando Magic beat the Milwaukee Bucks 107-99 on Friday night, November 13, at Kia Center in NBA Cup play. Wagner shot 13-for-22 from the field, made all six of his free throws, and added nine rebounds and 12 assists. Orlando led wire to wire after the first quarter and built a 52-37 halftime lead.

Desmond Bane added 21 points, five rebounds and three assists for Orlando, and Tristan da Silva chipped in 12 points and six rebounds. Wagner and Bane combined for 56 of the Magic's 107 points. Orlando shot 24-for-37 on two-pointers and made all 14 of its free throws, a clean night at the line that kept Milwaukee from ever closing the gap late.

The run is now a streak with a shape. Wagner matched his career high with 38 points at Utah on Wednesday, scored 33 at Sacramento on Tuesday, and put 30 on Golden State in an overtime loss last Saturday. Friday made it four straight games of 30 or more, and he's doing it as Orlando's first option while Paolo Banchero recovers from the injury he picked up in the second game of the season.

Milwaukee's problem is the standings, not one night. Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the Bucks with 22 points off the bench, and Milwaukee won both second-half quarters, 35-32 and 27-23. It didn't matter. The Bucks were down 15 at the half, they never got closer than eight after it, and the loss drops them to 1-11, the worst start in the league.

Orlando's defense did the quiet work. The Magic held Milwaukee to 15 first-quarter points and 37 in the first half, and Wagner's plus-34 was the biggest impact number on the floor. The Magic have now won three straight, all of them behind their 25-year-old forward running the offense.

The Cup context raises the value of the win. Group play rewards margin as well as wins, and an eight-point win with a wire-to-wire lead is the kind Orlando needs after its slow start. Wagner played 36 minutes and turned the ball over three times against his 12 assists, a ratio the Magic will take every night he's asked to be both scorer and point guard.

The workload behind the streak is the real story in Orlando. With Banchero out, Wagner has become the Magic's leading scorer, leading playmaker and first defensive assignment at once, and his touches have climbed past 100 in games this week. Friday's line, 35 points with 12 assists and only three turnovers in 36 minutes, is what that job looks like when it's working. The Magic didn't plan to run their season through one forward in November. The standings gave them no other choice, and he's carrying it.

Orlando goes to Boston on Monday, November 16, to face the Celtics. Milwaukee goes home still looking for a second win. Wagner's word for his role this season isn't complicated, and Friday showed why: with Banchero out, the Magic's offense is whatever he creates, and right now he's creating 30 a night.