Franz Wagner on Wednesday helped the Orlando Magic pull out a last-second win over the Boston Celtics, but the final box score may not be entirely indicative of the impact he had on the outcome.
Wagner finished the 103-102 victory with seven points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one blocked shot in 28 minutes of work. However, he had five of those points in the fourth quarter as the Magic erased a nine-point deficit to win.
While he only ended up with two steals, he was very active in the passing lanes and had several deflections throughout the game that enabled others to pick up the loose balls. He also showed some of his defensive versatility and held his own in matchups on smaller guards.
The work hasn’t gone unnoticed by Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley.
What Franz does is one of those things that isn’t going to show up on the stat sheets. When it comes to the slip that he has at the right time, the deflection he has on the out of bounds where the ball is coming around the corner, he gets a deflection and the steal. He is switching onto smaller guards and sitting down and guarding them. I think that there are so many things that he does that his teammates recognize so they know how important he is for them on the floor.
Wagner averaged 4.5 points, 1.8 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in four games with the Magic. He finished off the preseason by totaling 17 points and four rebounds over his last two contests, seemingly building up positive momentum heading into the regular season.
The eighth overall pick showed progression throughout the preseason, improving each time he stepped onto the court. He proved that he can help impact games, and the Magic will certainly welcome that sort of production to the team.
Orlando begins the regular season on Wednesday versus the San Antonio Spurs.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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