Wagner Leads Magic To Win Over Wizards With Standout Performance

“He looked good. His conditioning was on point, he was out there defending the right way, crawling into the basketball, trying to do a lot of the right things,” Mosley said of Suggs. “Having a couple of games off, there wasn’t as much rust as we’d thought there’d be.”

Orlando led throughout the game, with their advantage reaching nine points several times in the third quarter. Despite a significant rally by Washington in the fourth quarter, reducing a 17-point deficit to just four, the Wizards couldn’t overcome the Magic’s lead.

Wagner attributed the Magic’s success to the team’s unity and ability to regroup when challenged. The Magic dominated in the paint, scoring 70 points, and forced 21 turnovers from the Wizards.

“It’s the togetherness that we have, our poise, our communication,” Wagner said. “We have guys that like playing with each other and for each other and I think that shows in the last couple of minutes when stuff isn’t going our way that we come together and kind of find our groove again.”

Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. acknowledged the need to address turnovers and transition opportunities to change the game’s outcome.

“Overall, I think schematically we did the right things,” Unseld said. “Clean up on a couple of those turnovers and some of the transition opportunities and paint points, I think it’s a different ballgame.”

Daniel Gafford contributed with 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards, while Kyle Kuzma had an off night despite scoring 17 points, admitting his performance impacted the game’s result.

Looking ahead, the Orlando Magic are set to host the Philadelphia 76ers, while the Washington Wizards will face the Toronto Raptors, both games scheduled for Wednesday night.