Basketball star Franz Wagner reached the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup with the Orlando Magic.
The team of the German world and European champions won 112:109 against the top team the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night and thus secured first place in the five-team Group B in the West. Wagner scored 21 points and was his team’s second best thrower behind Desmond Bane (37).
In the final seconds, Pistons star Cade Cunningham, the game’s outstanding player with 39 points and a triple-double, missed the chance from the free throw line to bring his team even closer. To equalize, Detroit needed a three-point shot that was ultimately blocked.
With the exception of the final, the games in the NBA Cup are also counted as regular season games. In the Eastern Conference, Orlando moved into the direct play-off places with a new record of twelve wins and eight defeats. Detroit (15:4) leads the standings in the East.
The six group winners and the two best group runners-up advance to the Cup quarter-finals. The final will take place on December 16th (local time) in Las Vegas, where the semi-finals will also take place. The defending champions are the Milwaukee Bucks.