Magic's Comeback Meets Cruel End on Wagner's Missed Layup

The Orlando Magic's 15-2 run in the final three minutes Sunday gave them a chance to tie or even win, but Franz Wagner's layup bounced away and the Toronto Raptors prevailed 104-102. The Magic have lost three straight games and four of five on the homestand.

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) shoots against Toronto Raptors guard Ja'Kobe Walter (14) during the second half at Kia Center. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. — Too little, too late. But oh, was it close.

With 3:44 to play, the Orlando Magic trailed the Toronto Raptors 102-87. But a 15-2 run and a Toronto turnover with four seconds left remarkably gave Orlando a chance to tie or even win.

Franz Wagner's layup attempt fell harmlessly to the floor and sealed a stinging two-point loss, the Magic's third straight and the fourth in five games on this homestand.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win the game at the end, but you can't point to that last play and say that's why we lost," Paolo Banchero said postgame. "I think it was the whole three quarters before that."

With 20 games remaining in the regular season, the Magic are 29-33, eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Part of Sunday was about formulating a response. The Magic had lost the two previous games in frustrating fashion — a 40-point blowout to the Cleveland Cavaliers, then victims of Steph Curry's 56-point explosion.

The team also learned Sunday that starting point guard Jalen Suggs will be out indefinitely. Hours before tipoff, the Magic said that Suggs will have surgery to remove a loose fragment of cartilage in his left knee.

The performance that followed lacked a consistent focus.

"We had moments where we responded the right way, and then there were moments when they went on runs," he said postgame. "It was an up-and-down game."

First came the downs. Toronto controlled the first quarter, leading by eight after 12 minutes.

The Magic found themselves midway through the second quarter and climbed back to trail by a point at half.

Then over a four-minute and 28-second stretch spanning the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, the Raptors broke open a two-point game with a 27-6 run, during which the Magic had as many turnovers as shots — five.

The Magic trailed by double digits until their last desperate rally. In the end, the Magic's demise lay in the details.

The Raptors' on-ball pressure in particular disrupted Orlando's offense.

"I think it wasn't necessarily the full turnovers," Mosley reasoned. "It was the level of physicality pushing off our spots, not letting it allow us to get into our sets, playing up against the clock. Their physicality and their aggression started off a little bit more than ours in that moment."

But the Magic's 28th-ranked offense had more issues than just the lack of open looks. 

"We didn't play very well on offense, honestly," Banchero said. "I wouldn't attribute it to their ball pressure. I would attribute it to us not executing well enough."

Banchero scored 23 points and accounted for 12 of Orlando's 35 made free throws, but the Magic star took only nine shots.

Wagner led the Magic's scoring with 25, but finished two points shy of saving a much-needed home game.

Up Next

The Magic again host the Raptors at the Kia Center at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday.

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