The Orlando Magic‘s season just took another brutal hit as Moritz Wagner is now out for the rest of 2024-25 with a torn ACL. The injury happened during Saturday’s Florida derby win over Miami, leaving the team without yet another key scorer.
It’s the latest blow in what’s becoming a really tough stretch for Orlando. They’re already missing Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner with torn obliques.
Wagner went down in the first half of Orlando’s 121-114 victory against the Heat. He’d been having a strong season as the team’s sixth man, putting up 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
"We’re all praying for him. This one was for Mo," teammate Goga Bitadze said after the game. "It’s really bad to see one of our brothers go down. Like we’ve been saying, ‘Next man up.’ But this guy deserved better than this."
Bitadze wasn’t done praising his fallen teammate. "I call him a one-man army. We were all playing for Mo. You look at the crazy numbers he’s had this season. Sixth man, definitely."
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Magic. They’ve been one of the NBA’s surprise teams this year, starting 18-12.
But now they’re facing a massive scoring gap. Without both Wagner brothers and Banchero, they’re missing over 66 points per game – that’s more than half their usual offensive output.
Jalen Suggs will need to step up big time. He’s averaging 16 points and 3.9 assists this season, but he’ll need to do even more now.
There might be some hope on the horizon with Banchero. He’s making progress in rehab, though he hasn’t started contact drills yet.
The Magic currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, but they’re about to face their toughest test. They’ve got a brutal stretch coming up against the Celtics, Knicks, Heat, and Nets.
They’ll need their league-leading defense to come up huge if they want to keep their playoff position during this injury crisis.
