The German basketball world champions Franz and Moritz Wagner clearly missed out on a big victory with the Orlando Magic in the NBA. In the top game of the Eastern Conference, the team from Florida lost 111:128 to the Boston Celtics on the night from Friday to Saturday (December 16, 2023).
Franz Wagner contributed 17 points, his brother Moritz came off the bench again and only scored two points. Orlando (16:8 wins) initially lost second place in the East, leader Boston (19:5) is now ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers (both 17:7). “We have to carry on as before, there will always be evenings like this,” said Franz Wagner, “we just have to draw the right conclusions from it.”
However, the task with the Celtics was also one of the toughest the NBA has to offer. Boston has won each of its 13 home games so far this season, and the Wagners have to play there again on Sunday with Orlando.
Stop Spurs Losing streak
The San Antonio Spurs around the exceptional French talent Victor Wembanyama finally stopped their series of defeats, which had already reached record levels for the franchise. After 18 defeats, the Spurs won against the Los Angeles Lakers 129:115, and for Wembanyama it was also the first duel with superstar LeBron James. The Frenchman achieved a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds, and James also achieved the same: in addition to 23 points, he had 14 assists.
Things continue to go up and down for Schröder’s Raptors
For Dennis Schröder, things continue to go up and down with the Toronto Raptors. The captain of the German world champion team lost with his team against the Atlanta Hawks 104:125, Schröder had six points and four assists. Toronto won the same duel on Wednesday (135:128). The Raptors continue to have no consistency in their own performance, with the last two wins in a row coming in November.
The defeat was particularly painful because Atlanta is a direct competitor in the fight for playoff participation. The Hawks (10:14), tenth in the Eastern Conference, currently occupy the last place for the play-in tournament, the Raptors (10:15) are eleventh behind them.