ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic ruled forward Franz Wagner out for Friday’s Game 6 against the Detroit Pistons.
Wagner will miss his second consecutive game because of a right calf strain, and it appears increasingly unlikely that he will be able to return in this series with the team taking a cautious approach. Wagner was in a walking boot Wednesday in Detroit.
Without Wagner in Game 5, the Magic lost 116-109. However, they lead the top-seeded Pistons 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and need just one more win to advance to the second round. A potential Game 7 would be Sunday in Detroit.
Wagner suffered the injury during the third quarter of Game 4 in Orlando on Monday. He did not play in the fourth quarter of that 94-88 win over the Pistons.
Orlando’s Paolo Banchero said that without Wagner in Game 5, he knew he had to step up, and the power forward scored 45 points, making 17 of 31 shots including six 3-pointers.
However, Detroit star Cade Cunningham also took advantage of Wagner’s absence, going 13-of-23 for a franchise-playoff-record 45 points.
With Wagner as the primary defender on him in the first four games of the series, Cunningham scored a total of 17 points, shot 6-for-24 (including just 3-for-16 from behind the arc) and had six turnovers, according to ESPN’s tracking.
Wagner is averaging 16.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 steals in the series.
