{"id":532309,"date":"2026-01-12T19:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T19:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/532309\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T19:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T19:33:12","slug":"after-battling-pelicans-orlando-magic-fly-to-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/532309\/","title":{"rendered":"After battling Pelicans, Orlando Magic fly to Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Through the first three quarters of Sunday\u2019s game between the Magic<\/a> and Pelicans<\/a> at Kia Center<\/a>, New Orleans outscored Orlando<\/a> 98-91, shot 64.4% from the field and got to free throw line 13 times for 11 makes.<\/p>\n

But in the fourth quarter?<\/p>\n

Jamahl Mosley<\/a>\u2018s squad battened down the hatches on defense, and the Pelicans only scored 20 points in the final 12 minutes, shot 38.1% from the floor and attempted two free throws.<\/p>\n

That same frame, Orlando racked up 37 points, made 12 free throws and only turned the ball over once after conceding it 12 times the first three quarters.<\/p>\n

Unlike recent contests in which the Magic slowed down in the fourth quarter, such as last Friday when Philadelphia used a 20-12 fourth to leave Kia Center on top, Orlando went out and regained control over New Orleans late to capture a 128-118 victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just stuck with it,\u201d Magic forward Paolo Banchero<\/a> said in the locker room after the 10-point win. \u201cThe energy stayed high, and eventually the game turned our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added center Goga Bitadze<\/a>: \u201cIt was one of those trap games it could have gone south. If we weren\u2019t locked enough, we could have lost the game. \u2026 We stuck together, and that\u2019s why we got the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting reserve big man Moe Wagner<\/a> back after he spent more than a year recovering from a torn left ACL helped provide a boost.<\/p>\n

Wagner notched eight points, two rebounds and two assists in 10 restricted minutes of action, and it was clear how much those in attendance enjoyed watching him play again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt awesome,\u201d the 6-foot-11 center said after his first game in 386 days. \u201cWhen you work so hard behind the scenes and you get to see the fans, you get to see the game live but you\u2019re really not participating, to be able to engage after such a long time, it\u2019s really cool and very fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wagner\u2019s return offered perspective to the rest of the group, according to Mosley.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to the privilege and the honor to be out there again after being out for so long, our guys embraced that,\u201d Mosley said. \u201cWe talked about that before the game \u2014 it\u2019s a privilege to get out here and play, not a right. He took advantage of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crowd\u2019s energy towards Moe helped us out,\u201d he added. \u201cThat lifted our guys\u2019 spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The win not only moved Orlando (22-18) back into sixth in the East entering Monday\u2019s slate of games nearing the halfway mark of the regular season, but it also was the team\u2019s first double-digit victory since Nov. 25 (a 41-point win at Philadelphia).<\/p>\n

Still, the Magic have continued to alternate between wins and losses for 13 games straight. Although the team hasn\u2019t lost consecutive contests since Dec. 13-18 (vs. New York in NBA Cup Semifinal and at Denver), it also hasn\u2019t won two in a row since Nov. 28-Dec. 1 (at Detroit and vs. Chicago).<\/p>\n

The team gets a sort of reprieve this week as it travels overseas for a pair of contests against the Grizzlies (17-22), first in Berlin on Thursday and then in London on Sunday.<\/p>\n

After playing 10 games across a 17-day span and four in the past six before Monday, Orlando only plays two games in a seven-day stretch this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a tough season just because of this trip, to make up for these days where we\u2019re not playing,\u201d Bitadze said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t won two games in a row in a while, so we\u2019ve got to string some wins together and we\u2019ll be able to do that if we stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team flew out Sunday night, hours after taking down the Pelicans and arrived to the chilly city of Berlin on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

While Germany is home for Moe and Franz Wagner<\/a>, as well as Tristan da Silva<\/a>, it\u2019s a new experience for others on the Magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited,\u201d Banchero said. \u201cI\u2019ve never been out there to London or Germany so I\u2019m looking forward to that. We\u2019ve still got a job to do (with) two games. We want to win those games but it\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winning those games against Memphis could be more attainable if Franz Wagner, who missed his 16th game in a row Sunday due to a left high ankle sprain, can return to the court.<\/p>\n

Orlando has gone 8-8 since he went down Dec. 7 at New York. It\u2019s also been without Jalen Suggs<\/a> for 12 of the past 14 games, the last five because of a right knee MCL bruise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good,\u201d Franz Wagner said Sunday night. \u201cI\u2019ve been working really hard the last couple of weeks to get back as soon as I can. Hopefully that will be in Berlin. But regardless of if I play or not, it\u2019s going to be just a true full circle moment for Moe and I.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up going as little kids to that gym to watch the pros play and now bring the NBA game there, is pretty special for us,\u201d he added. \u201cSo, we\u2019re just going to try and enjoy every second of it, take it all in and appreciate the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Grizzlies<\/p>\n

When:\u00a02 p.m., Thursday, Uber Arena (Berlin, Germany)<\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0FanDuel Sports Network Florida\/Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Through the first three quarters of Sunday\u2019s game between the Magic and Pelicans at Kia Center, New Orleans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3796],"tags":[7,165,6,478,470,4073,4072,76,675,1412,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-532309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-pelicans","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-new-orleans","12":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","13":"tag-neworleans","14":"tag-neworleanspelicans","15":"tag-orlando-magic","16":"tag-pelicans","17":"tag-social","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115883803125568106","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}