'It Was For Moe': Magic Pull Together, Rally for Win Despite Wagner's Loss

Center Moe Wagner, with a potentially serious left knee injury, joined the Orlando Magic injury report Saturday night. A lineup of mostly reserves rallied the Magic from 25 points down to beat Miami. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said the Magic "stuck together and got the win."

Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze (35) celebrates with head coach Jamahl Mosley after a play against the Miami Heat in the third quarter at Kia Center. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. – Sitting at the interview dais, Jamahl Mosley had just finished coaching his Orlando Magic team to a win unlike any he'd ever seen.

But the fourth-year coach was somber. Moe Wagner, the Magic's lead bench scorer, was helped off the court in the first quarter with a left knee injury and didn't return. Even in a win that was made more improbable by Wagner's sudden absence, Mosley's concern for his player came first.

"Before you start asking me questions, Moe, you know, did what he did to his left knee, so he'll be re-evaluated tomorrow (Sunday)," Mosley began Saturday. "So I'm going to ask that we don't ask any more questions about that, because that is a little touchy subject right now for us, for him, and I want to be able to control my emotions because of how much we care about these young men and what they're going through. So, we can do another discussion about it another day, please."

With just over 2:30 remaining in the first quarter, Wagner jump-stopped on the edge of the lane looking to score his first bucket. But instead of elevating for a shot attempt, Wagner collapsed to the ground after his knee gave out in a non-contact incident.

MORE: Magic lose center Moe Wagner to torn left ACL for remainder of season

Grabbing his left knee, Wagner made a couple of attempts to get up but realized he couldn't. He shook his head toward the Magic bench. prompting Orlando to call timeout. One by one, his teammates, coaches, and Orlando's medical staff huddled over him.

His brother Franz, sidelined indefinitely with a torn oblique injury that he suffered just two weeks ago, had a look of disbelief. A towel covered Anthony Black's head and mouth, but his somber eyes followed the scene unfolding. A stunned silence fell over the Kia Center crowd.

Moe was carried off the court by Jonathan Isaac and Jalen Suggs. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope laid a towel over the Wagner's head.

The Magic ruled Moe out during halftime and team officials said Wagner would undergo further evaluation Sunday. Neither Moe nor Franz was seen again Saturday night.

In the next two hours, Orlando twice would overcome second-half deficits of 20-plus points to record an all-time comeback victory over the Miami Heat. Every Magic player who spoke after the game made it clear: That win was for Moe.

"We all felt when Moe went down — we all felt that," said Caldwell-Pope, who had 24 points in the win. "For us, you know, we always preach next man up mentality. Everybody off the bench that contributed tonight played well. I think the opportunity that we had tonight, everybody pulled together. Nobody separated. We just stuck together and got the win."

"It was for Moe. We're all praying for Moe," Goga Bitadze said after an 18-point, 13-rebound performance. "He had a crazy season. You look at his numbers, what he did, what he has done. ... Sixth Man (of the Year), definitely. We were all praying for him. This was for Moe. It's really bad to see another one of our guys, brother, go down."

Entering the game, Wagner was averaging 13.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 56.2 percent shooting from the field and 36.0 percent from three.

Orlando Magic forward Moritz Wagner (21) dribbles the ball against New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. | Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

He ranked second in total points among all NBA reserves, his 372 points trailing only Payton Pritchard, whose 442 points have come in 240 more minutes. Of reserves with at least 15 games played this season, Wagner's 25.0 points/36 minutes was also second, trailing only De'Andre Hunter's 25.4 points/36 minutes. He led the NBA in scoring for players averaging under 20 minutes a game.

He was one of just two Magic players to have appeared in every single game.

"Put some prayers out there for Moe Wagner," Cole Anthony said postgame after pouring in a season-high 35 points. "You're not going to meet a dude that works as hard as him, is as committed to the game as him; also just truly, truly loves the game and, at the same time, is just a great human being. To see what happened to him tonight — obviously, we're going to keep him in our prayers — but I know that, as a team, we wanted to go get this win for him.

"That's a dude who, shoot, I think was going to be the Sixth Man of the Year. Hopefully he comes back and can pick that up, but just whatever it is, we've got his back. Just prayers up for (him), big shoutout to him, man. We got him."

Mosley described the postgame locker room as a mix of celebration and relief.

"Then," he said, "there was a moment that we talked about making sure that we're lifting our brother up in Moe Wagner, that was a big portion of it."

That's the makeup of a tight-knit team capable of anything. Even a little history.

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