Franz Wagner Keeps Cooking While the Bucks Sink to Their Worst Start in 52 Years
Friday night's NBA Cup game in Orlando was a tale of two very different seasons. Franz Wagner scored 35 points with 12 assists and nine rebounds, falling one board short of his first career triple-double, and the Magic beat Milwaukee 107-99 for their first home win of the year. That's his fourth straight game with 30 or more points. Desmond Bane added 21, and Goga Bitadze had a season-high 12, half of it from alley-oop dunks Wagner set up. Orlando is now 2-0 in group play.
Wagner also made the play that sealed it. With Milwaukee within eight in the final minute, he stole the ball and finished with a Euro-step layup to push the lead to ten.
For the Bucks, it's ugly. Tyler Herro scored 18, but Milwaukee dropped a ninth straight game and sits at 1-12. According to Sportradar, that's their worst start in 52 years, since the 1974-75 team lost 13 of its first 14 without an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The nine-game skid ties their longest since a slide back in January 2014.
Elsewhere around the league, the San Antonio Spurs rolled the Golden State Warriors 123-85 for their 11th straight win, with Stephon Castle scoring a season-high 32 and Victor Wembanyama adding 12 points and 12 rebounds. And Portland's Deni Avdija dropped 34 in a win over Sacramento.
Is Wagner quietly turning into an All-Star, and how long can Milwaukee keep the season from turning into a full teardown?
