Franz Wagner recorded 35 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds on Friday night to help the Orlando Magic earn a 107-99 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks in NBA Cup East Group A play.
Desmond Bane added 21 points while Wendell Carter and Tristan da Silva scored 12 apiece for Orlando, which won its third straight game. Reserve Goga Bitadze chipped in 12 points for the Magic, who led by as many as 20.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. led Milwaukee with 22 points, followed by Tyler Herro’s 18. Myles Turner had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points for Milwaukee, which lost its ninth straight. Kel’el Ware tallied 10 points for the Bucks, who mustered just 15 first-quarter points.
Orlando extended its 15-point halftime lead to 20 after 3-pointers from Wagner and Bane made it 65-45 with 8:19 left in the third quarter.
Milwaukee answered with a 10-0 run and cut its deficit to 65-55 on Kuzma’s layup.
Jevon Carter beat the third-quarter buzzer with a layup to give the Magic an 84-72 lead entering the fourth.
Wagner made a hook shot midway through the final quarter to push the lead to 94-81 before Kuzma scored three straight to trim the difference to 10 with 4:45 remaining.
Herro made three free throws, including one for Bane’s flagrant foul, to pull the Bucks within eight at the 1:36 mark.
Wagner then iced the game with a layup on the other end.
Milwaukee cut its early deficit to 15-13 on Ware’s jumper, before Wagner had four of Orlando’s next six points to help the Magic take an eight-point lead.
Bitadze stamped the first quarter with a dunk to give Orlando a 23-15 lead. Milwaukee shot just 5-for-23 (21.7%) from the field in the opening 12 minutes.
The margin ballooned to 16 as Wagner buried back-to-back triples and Carter made a 3-pointer with 8:54 left in the first half.
Herro then accounted for seven of the Bucks’ ensuing 10-0 run to pull the visitors within six.
The Magic finished the first half on a 16-6 run to take a 52-37 halftime advantage. Wagner led all players with 18 first-half points.
