The Orlando Magic made the most of their final regular season home game with a 132-120 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
ORLANDO — The Orlando Magic put an emphatic stamp on their regular season home finale with a 132-120 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to extend their winning streak to four games. Below were the key moments and performances in another victory:
A Scary Moment for Franz and Fans
As the Magic were working to protect their lead from shrinking any further in the third quarter, Franz Wagner went down while holding his left knee in a display of pain.
The Magic had to commit an intentional foul to get Wagner off the court, and he left the floor and went to the locker room under his own power. After missing the better part of four months with a nagging left ankle injury, his departure left Magic fans inside the Kia Center with a sense of dread.
“I think it was scary,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Obviously, with what he's just gone through, and so our ability to have him go back, get it checked out and then come back in the game was huge.
It was just a sigh of relief in a lot of ways.”
However, Wagner made his return to the floor with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter to the sound of celebratory cheers. He would go on to finish the game with 17 points on 7-13 shooting.
After the game, Wagner made it clear he was feeling all right.
“Yeah, I am,” he said. “Otherwise I wouldn't have gone back in. But it feels all right. Nothing really happened.”
Steady Shot Making and Facilitating
The Magic shot the ball well enough in the first half to command a 10-point lead at half time. In the second half, they kept it going.
Orlando shot 55.3% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range in the first half. During the last two periods, the Magic raised their 3-point percentage to 41.4% while maintaining a field goal percentage over 50%. They also notched 32 assists in the win.
“I like the way that we finished the game, finding a way to finish,” Mosley said. “I think that's very important. You know, obviously there's always going to be things to clean up, some of the habits, but I think our guys did a great job, again, you know, 32 assists, us being able to share the basketball.”
Goga Bitadze’s Impact
With Wendell Carter Jr. dealing with a nasal fracture, Goga Bitadze saw a lot of time on the floor.
He made the most of it.
Bitadze finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds to go along with six assists, marking his second double-double of the season after he notched 14 points and 13 rebounds in a Jan. 11 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bitadze solidified his presence in the painted area, and even when he was not scoring or adding rebounds to the stat sheet, he was a disruptor and fought hard to keep possessions alive.
“I think most everybody here knows what I'm going to do,” Bitadze said. “Maybe I'm not going to have a great game numbers-wise every time. When you have inconsistent minutes and roles, it's hard to stay consistent.”
“So, I think everybody around here knows that I'm going to keep working no matter if I don't play or not. I'm going to bring that positive energy. Today was one of those nights where it goes your way.”
The Magic now own the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They will visit the Chicago Bulls on Friday before closing out the regular season against the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
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