Kyle Kuzma #33 of the Washington Wizards watches from the bench against the Orlando Magic during the second half of an NBA game at Capital One Arena on March 6, 2024 in Washington, DC. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON — Franz Wagner scored 28 points, Paolo Banchero added 25 and the Orlando Magic rallied from a 21-point second-quarter deficit to beat Washington 119-109. in the NBA Wednesday night, handing the Wizards their 16th consecutive defeat.
Washington (9-53) tied a team record for longest losing streak, matching a skid from the 2009-10 NBA season. The Wizards looked poised to end that slide, but were defeated by a 44-point second half against one of the league’s best defensive teams.
“It’s a tight-knit group that likes to defend, likes to cover, play the right way, play for each other,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We talked about it. That was the talk at halftime.
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Orlando (37-26) has won eight of nine.
Jordan Poole scored 26 points for Washington, which hasn’t won since a win at San Antonio on Jan. 29. Kyle Kuzma added 25 points for the Wizards, who haven’t won at home since Dec. 29 against Brooklyn.
Washington led by 11 after the first quarter and a Johnny Davis 3-pointer made it 52-31 in the second. It was 65-53 at halftime before the Wizards were held to 18 points in the third quarter.
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“When you play defense, you have a chance to win games. They haven’t won games in a few years, and they just started playing defense, they started winning games,” Kuzma said. “How do you do that? You have to want to play defense and want to play team defense. That’s what we have to learn and that’s what we have to get to if we don’t want to be that type of club. ball.
A Banchero layup tied it at 72, then neither team led by more than three for more than 14 minutes, before a dunk by Moritz Wagner – Franz’s brother – made it 102 -97.
Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner, left, and Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija watch a shot by Wagner, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Washington . The Magic won 119-109. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Moritz Wagner added a three-point play to cap a 14-1 run, and the Magic led 107-97. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
It was the biggest comeback of the season for the Magic, who last recovered from a 21-point deficit on Jan. 30, 2023, in Philadelphia. The last time Orlando made a bigger comeback was Nov. 21, 2014, at Charlotte, when the team overcame a 23-point deficit to win.
“There wasn’t really much to say about the project plan,” Banchero said. “There was no reason to talk about any plans at halftime. It was just our effort and how hard we wanted to play.
Banchero had 10 assists.
“Paolo is an All-Star, Franz is on his way to being an All-Star,” Mosley said. “The way they play off each other, and then it becomes selfless, and that trickles down to the rest of the group.”
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Magic: In New York Friday night.
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Wizards: Host Charlotte Friday night.
