Wagner brothers carry the Orlando Magic to impressive victory over Cleveland Cavaliers

Friday, 23 February 2024 at 04:47

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the hottest teams in 2024, but tonight they were without All-Star Donovan Mitchell and they struggled, as they fell short to the Orlando Magic 116-109 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse behind the heroics of Franz and Mo Wagner.

The Magic have been a pleasant surprise this year, as nobody expected this young team to be in the playoff hunt this late into the season. Led by first time All-Star Paolo Banchero and rising star Franz Wagner, this dynamic duo has played amazing and the future for this squad is bright once everybody continues to develop and gain more comfort in the league.

Read also

The NBA is back: What's the experts' prediction about the upcoming duel between Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers?

Tonight, Franz Wagner scored 14 points on 55% shooting while his brother, Mo Wagner had 22 points on 58% shooting off the bench. Sophomore Paolo Banchero struggled tonight, finishing with 12 points on 27% shooting. Wendell Carter Jr. also ended with 12 points while Cole Anthony recorded 13 points off the bench.

For the Cavs, it was all about their starting 5 tonight, as they all scored in double figures. Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, and Darius Garland all finished with 18 points. Allen added in 10 rebounds while Garland contributed 10 assists as well. Evan Mobley had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks while Isaac Okoro scored 17 points.

Read also

NBA 2023-24: Five teams with best average rebounds per game

This win improves the Magic to 31-25, which makes them 7th in the Eastern Conference. Orlando is now 0.5 games behind the 6th seeded Pacers for the last guaranteed playoff spot. They are 7-3 over their last 10 games and currently on a 2-game winning streak. Their next game will be on Saturday night against the Detroit Pistons.

Meanwhile, this loss drops the Cavs to 36-18, which makes them 2nd in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is now 7 games behind the Boston Celtics and are currently 8-2 over their last 10 games. Their next game will be tomorrow night against the Philadelphia 76ers.