Next bankruptcy for the Orlando Magic with the Wagner brothers, nothing to gain for Daniel Theis and his New Orleans Pelicans either: The German basketball world champions had a disappointing evening in the NBA. Orlando suffered its fifth defeat in a row at 111:118 at the Indiana Pacers – the Wagner brothers’ total of 42 points didn’t help either.
Franz Wagner contributed 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists. But that wasn’t enough to achieve the desired success, nor were brother Moritz’s 14 points and rookie Tristan da Silva‘s five points, who was allowed to start again. The Magic’s yield remains meager: they have lost six of the nine games so far.
The Pelicans have exactly the same record with center Theis. In the 122:131 home defeat against the Cleveland Cavaliers – the only undefeated NBA team with nine wins – New Orleans kept the game even until halftime, but the Cavs pulled away in the third quarter. Theis didn’t score any points in his six minutes on the field; it was the third defeat in a row for the Pelicans.
The New York Knicks also suffered a defeat on Thursday night. German rookie Ariel Hukporti, who was given a new contract at the beginning of the week, did not play in the 116:121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It was the fourth loss in the seventh game for the Knicks.
The still injured Maxi Kleber and Isaiah Hartenstein were also not used. Thanks to Luka Doncic’s 27 points, Kleber’s Dallas Mavericks defeated the Chicago Bulls 119:99, Hartenstein’s Oklahoma City Thunder lost their first game of the season at 122:124 at the Denver Nuggets after seven wins.
In the top game of the evening, the Golden State Warriors with Stephen Curry (27 points) celebrated a 118:112 win over the reigning champion Boston Celtics. Celtics star Jayson Tatum’s 32 points didn’t matter in the end either. The Warriors are somewhat surprisingly 7-1, Boston is 7-2.
The James family suffered their fourth defeat in the eighth game when the Los Angeles Lakers lost 114:131 to the Memphis Grizzlies – even LeBron James couldn’t prevent this with his 39 points. Son Bronny scored two points in at least five minutes of action.
