The Orlando Magic succumbed to their fourth straight defeat, following last night’s 135-116 loss against the Detroit Pistons, and forward Franz Wagner called out the team during the postgame press conference.
“I feel like it’s not the first game in a short season that we got off the court feeling like we didn’t play as hard as we can,” Franz Wagner said via Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede. “That’s unacceptable.”
“Yeah, I think it’s good we have a game tomorrow,” he continued. “We should all be frustrated. Hopefully, we can turn that frustration into energy. Like I said, it’s not all bad, but we’ve got to figure it out.”
After a close first half, the Orlando Magic were outscored 70-52 in the second half by the Detroit Pistons. Paolo Banchero had a team-high 24 points in the losing effort, while Franz Wagner, Tristan da Silva, Desmond Bane, Anthony Black, and Goga Bitadze added 22, 15, 12, 10, and 10 points.
Orlando Magic News: Jamahl Mosley reflects on the team’s recent struggles
Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley pointed to the team’s decline on the defensive end as a key reason for their losing streak, as they’ve conceded at least 135 points in their last two games against the Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons.
“Too many points. We’ve got to sit down and guard on the defensive end. There’s no other way to put it,” Mosley said. “We’ve got to guard. You’ve got to take some pride on defense.”
“You’ve got to sit down and want to guard your man and not worry about what’s happening on the offensive end of the floor. The pace was very, actually slower than it’s ever been. But we’ve got to sit down and guard and have pride,” he reiterated.
