Franz Wagner Scores a Season-High 33 as the Magic Beat the Kings 107-100 to Snap a Four-Game Losing Streak

Franz Wagner scored a season-high 33 points, Anthony Black added 26, and the Orlando Magic beat the Sacramento Kings 107-100 on Tuesday night at Golden 1 Center to snap a four-game losing streak.

The win improved Orlando to 3-7 and gave the Magic their first victory on a West Coast swing that opened with losses at Phoenix and Golden State. Sacramento fell to 1-10, has lost four straight and remains winless in six home games, according to The Associated Press.

The Magic did it again without forward Paolo Banchero, who missed his eighth consecutive game with a high ankle sprain, along with guard Jalen Suggs and forwards Jonathan Isaac and Tristan da Silva.

Wagner carries the offense

Wagner played 38 minutes and finished 11 of 23 from the field and a perfect 10 of 10 from the free-throw line, according to ESPN's box score. He added seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. It was his second straight big night after he had 30 points and 11 assists in Saturday's 126-119 overtime loss at Golden State.

The game swung hard in both directions early. Orlando took control of the first quarter behind two 3-pointers from Bane, a running dunk by Black and a stretch of inside scoring from Wagner, who had two baskets in the final three minutes of the period, and Bane's 27-foot pullup with a minute left made it 34-20, the Magic's largest lead of the night. Sacramento then scored 18 straight points spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second. LaVine accounted for 13 of them, starting with a four-point play in the final seconds of the opening period, and the Kings led 38-34 before Wagner ended the drought with a free throw at the 8:37 mark.

His biggest shot came late in the first half. Wagner hit a 3-pointer from 26 feet with 3:10 left in the second quarter to cap an 18-5 Orlando run and make it 52-43, and the Magic led the rest of the way. That run started after Sacramento had gone ahead 43-42 on a 3-pointer by Darius Acuff Jr., and it included a three-point play by Wagner and a turnaround jumper by Jamal Cain.

Wagner also helped close it. After Sacramento pulled within nine midway through the fourth, he scored on a pullup jumper and converted the free throw on the foul at the 5:23 mark to make it 99-87. With 20.6 seconds left and the lead down to five, he made both free throws to push it back to 105-98.

Black's all-around night

Black was nearly as important. The guard made 10 of 17 shots, scored 26 points and filled the box score with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. His pullup jumper off a Wagner assist with 2:15 left gave Orlando a 103-90 lead.

Desmond Bane scored 15 points with six rebounds and four assists, though he needed 19 shots to get there and went 4 of 13 from 3-point range. Wendell Carter Jr. had 8 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks and was a team-best plus-14. Carter also finished the game with a running dunk off a Bane pass with 6.4 seconds left. Alex Morales added 7 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Jase Richardson scored 6.

LaVine and Acuff keep Sacramento close

Zach LaVine led Sacramento with 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range. He scored the Kings' final 10 points, beginning with two free throws with 1:52 left and adding back-to-back 3-pointers, the second with 44.7 seconds left, that cut a 13-point deficit to 103-98, then added a driving layup in the final second.

Acuff, a 19-year-old rookie, scored 29 points with four 3-pointers and six assists in 40 minutes. According to the AP, he has 288 points through his first 11 NBA games, the most by any rookie at that point of a season since Michael Jordan scored 289 for the Chicago Bulls in 1984.

Domantas Sabonis, who missed Sacramento's loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday with left knee soreness, returned but did not score. He went 0 for 2 from the field in 24 minutes with five assists and two rebounds. De'Andre Hunter added 15 points and Keegan Murray had 11 points and four blocks.

Where the game was won

Sacramento shot far better from 3-point range, but Orlando won the possession battle and the paint by wide margins. The team comparison from ESPN's box score:

The Magic's 58 points in the paint were more than double Sacramento's total, and their 15 extra field-goal attempts offset a 27 percent night from beyond the arc. Orlando made 17 of 18 free throws, with Wagner accounting for 10 of them.

Orlando led 34-27 after the first quarter, 57-52 at halftime and 84-76 after three quarters. Sacramento got within 61-59 early in the third quarter but never regained the lead.

A needed result for Orlando

The losing streak had dropped the Magic to 2-7, and it came during a stretch without Banchero, the 2023 NBA Rookie of the Year and a 2024 All-Star, who was hurt in a 115-93 home loss to Minnesota on Oct. 23, according to the AP. Orlando lost home games to Boston and Washington before heading west and dropping games at Phoenix and Golden State.

Tuesday's win showed the formula the Magic can lean on while Banchero is out: Wagner as the primary scorer, Black attacking and defending at the point of attack, and a frontcourt that controls the glass. Orlando outrebounded Sacramento by 14.

What's next

The Magic finish a back-to-back on Wednesday night at Utah, which lost 115-109 to the Miami Heat on Tuesday and has dropped nine straight games. Sacramento hosts Portland on Friday.