Sixers give respect to Rookie of the Month Franz Wagner, scrappy Magic
The Philadelphia 76ers (21-16) finished off the scrappy Orlando Magic on the road on Wednesday for their fifth straight win, moving them up to fifth in the East.
However, the win on Wednesday was not easy. Orlando led by as many as 10 in the third quarter. The Magic were getting good play out of December Rookie of the Month Franz Wagner, who finished with 15 points. He was scoring well early before leaving with a foot injury that hampered him late.
“I’m really impressed,” said Furkan Korkmaz of Wagner. “His game is kinda cold-blooded. He doesn’t rush. He gets to the paint really easily, and he has good size, so I really like him as a player. He looks like a good guy, too.”
Wagner gave the Sixers trouble earlier in the season during the teams’ matchup in Philadelphia. Coach Doc Rivers was impressed, giving him some props and even grief over Michigan’s loss to Georgia in the college football playoffs.
“I love him,” Rivers added about Wagner. “Tough. Other than Michigan getting blown out. We talked about that at halftime; I had Michigan, he’s just a tough kid, man. He knows how to play. He doesn’t play like a rookie.”
It game grew pretty dire: The Sixers used a lineup with both big men, Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond, that they haven’t used all season. Embiid was happy with the way he had some help against Orlando’s big duo of Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba, who gave the Sixers issues all night.
That compounded the play of Wagner who gave them trouble and earned the respect of Embiid. Wagner gave Embiid high praise earlier in the day.
“I think he’s gonna be really good,” Embiid added. “I told coach (Jamahl) Mosley, I’m proud of the job he’s done here. It’s hard, a bunch of young guys trying to teach them how to win and play the right way, but I thought he’s done a great job since he got here. Obviously, the wins are not showing up, but I watch a lot of games, they’re always in every game.”
The Magic may be an NBA-worst 7-32, but they have intriguing young talent led by Wagner that could be a big reason for rising future expectations.
“You got the Boston game, they probably should have won that game up 12 with like 3:00 left, and obviously, they gave Chicago a lot of trouble,” Embiid added. “Tonight (Wednesday), the game was closer than what the score says. They play hard. I think he’s gonna be extremely good and he just needs to keep working.”
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