German forward Franz Wagner on Thursday hit his stride late to help the Orlando Magic rally for a 118-111 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the first NBA regular-season game ever played in Germany.
The Grizzlies did their best to spoil the return of Orlando’s Wagner brothers, Franz and Moritz, to their home country in the showcase game in Berlin.
Memphis led by as many as 20 points in the first half before the Magic stepped it up on the defensive end to turn the tide.
Photo: AFP
Orlando surrendered 39 points in the first quarter, but allowed Memphis just 40 in the next two periods combined, Franz Wagner pointing to Orlando’s 26-12 third quarter dominance as the difference-maker.
Wagner called it “super-special” to have a chance to show his Magic teammates around Berlin, the city where he grew up.
He said it was not just the emotion of the trip that accounted for his slow start, but also some rustiness as he returned from a 16-game absence with a high ankle sprain.
Photo: D. Ross Cameron / Imagn Images
“Obviously working back from an injury isn’t ever easy and then it being this game, a very emotional week. Also a taxing week because we did a lot of stuff because we want to maximize our time here,” he said. “I’m not making any excuses, though. Once you decide to play you’ve got to be ready.”
“I was happy to make some plays at the end,” said Wagner, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Anthony Black added 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Photo: AP
Jaren Jackson Jr led the Grizzlies with 30 points, but after a red-hot shooting start the Grizzlies connected on just 33.3 percent of their attempts from the field in the second half.
Elsewhere, NBA champions the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Rockets 111-91 in Houston to push their league-best record to 35-7.
NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points and center Chet Holmgren added 18 for Oklahoma City, who out-scored the Rockets 34-16 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Photo: AFP
Jalen Williams scored just six points, but he handed out 10 assists without a turnover to help keep the Thunder offense
In Dallas, Texas, Klay Thompson moved into fourth place on the NBA’s all-time three-pointer list, draining six from beyond the arc on the way to 26 points in the Mavericks’ 144-122 victory over Utah.
With 2,809 career three-pointers Thompson has passed Damian Lillard (2,804) for fourth on the list topped by Thompson’s former Golden State Warriors teammate Stephen Curry.
Photo: AP
Curry came into the night with 4,201 made three-pointers in his career. After going zero-for-four from three-point range in a lackluster first half, he connected on four on the way to 27 points in a 126-113 victory over the New York Knicks.
Jimmy Butler scored 32 points for Golden State and Moses Moody added 21 with a sizzling seven three-pointers in nine attempts.
OG Anunoby and Miles McBride scored 25 points apiece for the Knicks, who were without injured star Jalen Brunson.
In San Antonio, Texas, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama needed a fresh start after two frustrating losses so he had his head shaved by a teammate.
Wembanyama overcame an injury scare to score 22 points and grab 10 rebounds as San Antonio routed the Milwaukee Bucks 119-101 to snap a two-game skid.
Wembanyama exited early in the first quarter after banging knees with Giannis Antetokounmpo, but returned to even his career record against the Bucks center after four games.
It was a welcome change for Wembanyama and the Spurs after blowing a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter in falling 104-103 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday followed by a 119-98 loss to the Thunder on Tuesday.
San Antonio forward Keldon Johnson deserves some credit for the change in fortunes, as well as Wembanyama’s new style.
“I have been having this [shaving his head] in the back of my head for a little bit, and the fact that [Keldon] wanted to do it as well, it just convinced me, but I felt like we had to lock in real quick, because we had been losing a little bit,” Wembanyama said.
The idea for the new look began last week, when Johnson announced that he was planning to shave his head and tried to convince his teammates to join him.
Spurs guard Stephon Castle was not about to shave his dreadlock high-top fade.
“They knew not to ask me,” Castle said. “I don’t got much for that one. It’s not going to happen.”
Not surprisingly, the young man who spent 10 days training with the Shaolin monks in Zhengzhou, China, this summer and played chess in Washington Square Park in New York City on a whim two years ago was all in.
Wembanyama opted to have Johnson shave his head on Wednesday night rather than go to a professional barber.
“I mean, what can go wrong if the plan is to cut it all off,” Wembanyama said, chuckling.
Johnson is rarely at a standstill on the court or on the bench, but he reined in his energy while clipping Wembanyama.
“It took me a good little minute,” Johnson said. “I was trying to be cautious because he got hit [on the head against Oklahoma City]. He had a knot on his head. So, I was trying to make sure everything’s smooth. Take my time. You know what I’m saying? I had to fade it up a little bit at first. Then I gave him a little bowl cut and we just went from there.”
Wembanyama returned the favor with the same precision he had in making five of six three-pointers on Thursday.
“He did good,” Johnson said. “He was quick with it. No lie. Vic probably took like three minutes. Boom, boom, boom, knocking down. Boom. I’m like: ‘Wow.’”
The bald head represented a new start and it also brought a turn of fortune after a series of injuries for the 2.24m center from France.
Wembanyama dropped to the court after making knee-to-knee contact with Antetokounmpo’s left leg under the Bucks basket with 9 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Wembanyama remained on the court in pain for a few seconds before rising and hobbling unassisted in a half sprint toward the locker room.
He returned to the bench at the close of the first quarter and was back on the court to start the second quarter.
“I did not think it was serious because it was just like a knee to knee,” Wembanyama said. “I’ve had this dozens of times, but never against a guy like this. So, that was a lot more than usual, but it’s thankfully a very benign thing.”
Elsewhere on Thursday, it was:
‧ Lakers 117, Hornets 135
‧ Heat 114, Celtics 119
‧ Trail Blazers 117, Hawks 101
‧ Pistons 108, Suns 105
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
Brandon Miller scored 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 and the Charlotte Hornets built a 47-point lead in the first half of a 150-95 rout against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. It was the second-biggest win in franchise history for the Hornets and their largest on the road. The Hornets bounced back from a pair of frustrating losses in a big way, having fallen to Toronto by one point and Indiana by two in their last two games. Charlotte pounded the NBA champion Thunder by 27 in Oklahoma City before those defeats, previously the Hornets’ most lopsided victory of the season. Tre
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