By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Last time the Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic met, Luka Doncic and Moritz Wagner received double technical fouls after a heated moment at American Airlines Center. A couple of weeks later at the reverse venue, Orlando’s Amway Center, the Magic avenged the January 15 loss behind Franz Wagner’s go-ahead bucket with 54 seconds remaining in the tight affair.
Following the latest 2021-22 NBA Regular Season collision between the Magic and Mavericks, Franz Wagner downplayed the scuffle of the previous encounter noting that both himself and his brother just wanted to help their team secure the win.
“I don’t know if Moe was seeking him out necessarily. At least, I don’t think so. I think a lot of stuff gets hyped up on social media. Obviously, people like seeing that. That’s part of it too,” the German small forward explained following the NBA Sundays game, “I was trying to win the game. A big part of that was not letting him [Doncic] score and make plays, which is very difficult because he is a great player, knows all the reads in the book and always makes the right play.”
Franz ended up with 18 points behind 9/15 field goals. His brother added 14 points coming off the bench. Doncic was not enough for the Mavs despite registering his seventh triple-double of the season and 43rd of his career.
“Obviously they’re an NBA team, they have young guys, they have a lot of talent, they play hard and they showed that today,” the Slovenian star mentioned after producing 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, “But we shouldn’t give up 41 points in one quarter.”
The 41-point period generated 64-59 lead for the Magic at halftime. Effective defense down the stretch got the job done.
Missing Kristaps Porzingis, the Mavericks fell to 29-22. They will look to improve the W-L record and move up from sixth place in the Western Conference table during the upcoming six-game homestand starting versus the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday. The Latvian big man did not travel to Orlando due to a sore right knee.
As for the Magic, they will be going on the road to face the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. At 11-40, the team ranks last in the NBA standings, 14 games outside the Eastern Conference Playoff zone.
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