The Wagner brothers cannot gild Shaquille O’Neal’s honor, Dennis Schröder cannot match his strong debut performance. The NBA on Wednesday morning.
In focus on NBA Tuesday: Shaquille O’Neal (left) and Dennis Schröder. Getty Images
The Orlando Magic would have liked a celebratory setting on Wednesday night – but the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t play along. The team from the Midwest, which recently suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, won its away game 127:113. Even the world champion brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner couldn’t prevent the defeat.
Franz Wagner had a disappointing 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes of playing time. Moritz Wagner contributed eleven points and five rebounds in just 14 minutes of playing time. This meant that they didn’t even come close to what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams showed on the other side: SGA came up trumps, especially in the third quarter, when he alone scored 15 of his 32 points. Williams, on the other hand, put his stamp on the game in the fourth quarter – with 17 of his 33 points.
The 32 goes under the roof of the hall
This ultimately dampened the party atmosphere a bit. But there was still a goosebumps moment: For the first time in their 35-year history, Orlando pulled a jersey under the roof of the hall – Shaquille O’Neal’s 32. Almost 30 years after his rather inglorious departure, the legendary center received this honor. After four years with the franchise, O’Neal moved on to the Los Angeles Lakers – and yet he is still considered the greatest player in Magic history.
O’Neal was Orlando’s first number one draft pick ever, the Magic’s first rookie of the year, its first All-Star and led the Magic to their first Finals in 1995. The Magic are the third franchise to now have O’Neal’s jersey under the roof – the center had previously been given this honor by the Lakers and the Miami Heat.
It was just a small setback for the Wagner brothers: Because of their five wins from the last seven games, the Magic are still fully in the race for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Tatum really steals the show from Schröder
Elsewhere, Dennis Schröder suffered his first defeat in his second game for the Brooklyn Nets – and the German world champion’s limits were shown more clearly. With only nine points, five rebounds and three assists, the Braunschweig native was unable to build on his strong Nets debut. In the end it was 110:118 against the Boston Celtics.
Jayson Tatum was outstanding for the Celtis, who were already celebrating their fifth win in a row. The 25-year-old American had 41 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. For Tatum, it was the 25th game of his NBA career in which he scored at least 40 points in a regular-season game.
He was modest afterwards: “We have a really good team – and it won’t always be just me. I just understand that and know that I need my teammates. I need everyone, we all need each other.” The Nets’ best throwers were Mikal Bridges with 27 and Cam Thomas with 26 points.
2024-02-14 15:09:10
#NBA #OKC #denies #ONeal #honor #Orlando #Magic
