WASHINGTON (AFP) — Franz Wagner’s 31-point performance sparked Orlando to its eighth consecutive victory on Wednesday, ripping Washington 139-120 to move one game behind National Basketball Association overall leader Boston.
The Magic connected on 60.7 percent of their shots in improving to 13-5 and matching Milwaukee for second in the Eastern Conference behind the Celtics (14-4).
“We believe we can win every day and we want to play up to our standards,” Wagner said after achieving back-to-back 30-point games for the first time in his NBA career.
“It’s a lot of fun. We would like to keep that going.”
Orlando can match the club’s record win streak by beating the Wizards again on Friday.
“It would be awesome,” Wagner said.
“But we’ve still got one to go so we’ve got to lock in on that.”
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley agreed, saying: “I’m a ‘one game at a time’ guy. We’ll enjoy this one but we’ve got to get to work tomorrow.”
Cole Anthony came off the bench to add 25 points and Jalen Suggs scored a season-high 22 points for Orlando.
But forward Paolo Banchero, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, suffered an ankle sprain and had only six points.
“We’ve got a young team,” Wagner said.
“We’re just a tight-knit group. We’ve got a lot of characters and we just enjoy playing with each other.”
