Mo and Franz Wagner aren’t the first brothers to be NBA teammates, but they delivered a great sibling performance in the playoffs on Saturday.
Franz Wagner played nearly a perfect game, putting up 34 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. He shot 13-for-17 and didn’t commit a single turnover in Orlando’s series-evening 112-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the 34 minutes the younger Wagner was on the court, Orlando outscored Cleveland by 32 points. Mo Wagner was +20 in 15 minutes, adding seven points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
Both brothers were on the floor for most of Orlando’s 18-0 run to close the third quarter and begin the fourth. They held Cleveland scoreless for 6:46, part of a larger 30-3 run that put the Magic in control of Game 4.
Orlando’s big men took it to Cleveland’s vaunted frontcourt. Overall, the Magic won the rebounding battle 43-29, a bad sign for a Cleveland team built around their big men.
Orlando got 14 points off the bench from Jonathan Isaac, plus 11 from center Wendell Carter Jr., whose back-to-back threes helped turn the Magic run into a Magic rout.
Now the series returns to Cleveland tied 2-2. If this continues, Cleveland might have to play backup big man Isaiah Mobley, just to counter Orlando’s brother act.