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Magic Staying Afloat Despite Banchero Injury

Franz Wagner has been central to the Magic's success without Paolo Banchero.

When Paolo Banchero went down earlier this month, things looked bleak for the Orlando Magic. The Banchero injury was terrible news to the 3-2 Magic, who were looking to build on last season’s success. Without their best player in the lineup, the Magic were expected to struggle greatly, and at first, they did. Now, they’ve bounced back, and it has widely been behind the inspired offensive play of their second young star, Franz Wagner, his brother Moritz Wagner, along with their elite defense. 

Magic Staying Afloat Despite Banchero Injury

Paolo Banchero Stats Through Five Games

Banchero’s stats through the first five games were downright dominant. He was averaging 29 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. As the team’s best player and key offensive cog, Banchero’s leadership was going to be key to the Magic’s success this season. When he went down with a torn oblique, things looked grim in Orlando. 

Without Banchero, the Magic proceeded to lose their next four games, putting them at 3-6 and in danger of losing a grip on their positioning in the Eastern Conference standings. Although those four games were against some difficult opponents like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder, some Magic fans were certainly starting to worry. 

Orlando Magic Schedule Gets Easier

After those tough four games without Banchero, the Orlando Magic schedule softened up. Their last five opponents have been the New Orleans Pelicans, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Philadelphia 76ers. Just as it looked like the Magic were going to slide down the standings quickly during the Banchero injury, they completely turned things around. The Magic have now won five straight games and in dominant fashion. The Magic won four of their last five games by double digits, and a lot of it has been because of the excellent play of Franz Wagner and help from his brother. 

Mo and Franz Wagner Step Up Their Game

Franz Wagner had a slow start to the season. After another summer of development and an Olympic run with team Germany, people were expecting the 23-year-old to make a big jump in his fourth NBA season. At first, it didn’t look like that was going to happen.  Through the first nine games (five with Banchero and the next four without) this season, he was averaging 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Although not drastically worse, these were below his 19.7 points and 5.3 rebound averages from last season. 

As the Magic sputtered to stay afloat without Banchero, Wagner not only found his footing but stepped up hugely. Over the last five games on the Orlando Magic schedule, Wagner has been incredible. In those games, he is averaging 28.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 6.0 assists. These numbers would be across-the-board career highs for Wagner. He isn’t just playing excellent on the offensive side of things, either, Wagner is averaging 1.8 steals over those games as well. 

His brother Mo Wagner has also been excellent with Banchero out. In their last five games, Mo is second behind his brother in scoring averaging 15 points per game, he is doing this on a super efficient 61.4% from the field as well.

The Magic’s defense has been the real difference-maker over their last five games. In that span, they’re by far the best defense in the league with an unreal defensive rating of 92.9. Although the Magic are doing most of their damage on the defensive end, the Wagner brothers are taking their Olympic experience and helping lead the Magic on the offensive end. 

Jeremy Kruger

Jeremy Kruger

"You're not tall enough to make the NBA," they said. They were right. But now Jeremy is doing the next best thing: sharing his passion for basketball with the world through his writing.

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