A brilliant Franz Wagner led the Orlando Magic as a mask man to a convincing away win in the NBA.
The German world and European champion became his team’s top scorer with 28 points in a 124:107 win over the New York Knicks, achieving his season’s best.
In addition, Wagner, who played with a special face shield because of a broken nose in the game against the Portland Trail Blazers (115:112), contributed four assists and nine rebounds to the Magic’s sixth win of the season. National team colleague Tristan da Silva had eight points, two assists and five rebounds for the Florida franchise.
For the Knicks, who suffered their fourth defeat of the season after five wins, German center Ariel Hukporti only played two minutes and remained without points. The best thrower for the team from the Big Apple was Jalen Brunson with 31 points.
Dennis Schröder, on the other hand, had the next evening to forget. At 100:133 with the Sacramento Kings against his former club Atlanta Hawks, the captain of the German world and European champions once again had no chance and experienced his fourth defeat in a row. Schröder, who hadn’t scored a basket in the previous game, scored nine points. The Kings are in 13th place in the Western Conference with three wins and nine losses.
NBA: Next win for Hartenstein and Co.
Meanwhile, Isaiah Hartenstein achieved another win with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The champions didn’t let Luka Doncic and his Los Angeles Lakers stop them and won in Game 13 for the twelfth time this season. Hartenstein put up eleven points and eight rebounds in the undisputed 121:92 victory of what is still the best team in the league.
The best thrower for OKC was once again MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 30 points. Doncic scored 19 points for the Lakers, who suffered their fourth defeat. The German Maxi Kleber scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in his second game after a long injury break.
Stephen Curry made an exclamation point with his Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were not discouraged by a 16-point deficit at the San Antonio Spurs and inflicted their first home defeat on the Spurs. At 125:120, Curry excelled with 46 points, 22 of which he scored in the third quarter. Victor Wembanyama also couldn’t save his team from defeat with a triple double (31 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists).