Franz Wagner had six points and seven assists, which is a rather productive way to spend 14 minutes while the jumper refuses to cooperate. Paolo Banchero supplied 11 points and five assists in 15 minutes. Together, Orlando’s two primary forwards shot 4-for-14, yet their 12 assists helped the Magic beat Memphis 122-118 in a preseason exhibition Wednesday night.
The interesting part was the division of labor. Wagner and Banchero accounted for 12 of the Magic’s 35 assists while scoring 17 points together. Their value came through distribution on a night when the ball was not falling consistently for either of them, and the rest of the roster converted enough shots to make that distribution matter.
Wagner’s line was especially clean. He made 2 of 7 field goals, had seven assists and committed one turnover. Banchero also went 2-for-7, turned the ball over twice and went 7-for-10 at the foul line.
Those numbers do not support a portrait of effortless scoring, but they do show two players affecting possessions in more than one way. The assists were not decorative additions to their scoring totals; they were a large share of Orlando’s passing production during short appearances.
The shooting around them gave those passes a practical destination. Wendell Carter Jr. made 3 of 4 threes, Nikola Vučević went 3-for-3, and Desmond Bane also hit all three of his attempts. The trio made nine threes and scored 31 points combined: Carter had 13, while Vučević and Bane each finished with nine.
That is the arithmetic that made Orlando’s approach work. Carter, Vučević and Bane scored 14 more points than Wagner and Banchero while taking advantage of the opportunities the broader offense produced. Orlando finished 20-for-45 from three-point range and 41-for-87 overall, so this was hardly a team-wide shooting drought. The quiet night belonged specifically to the two featured forwards, while several teammates supplied the louder finishing.
The assist total also had more authors than the two starters. Jevon Carter added six, JD Davison had five and Jase Richardson contributed three. Wendell Carter Jr., Tristan da Silva and Alex Morales each had two, and Bane had one. Orlando’s 35 assists therefore describe a shared operation, with contributions from the starting forwards, reserve guards and big men.
There was a catch, and it arrived in the form of Memphis possessions. Orlando committed 14 turnovers to the Grizzlies’ eight and gave up 48 points in the paint. The Magic’s passing volume did not make every possession tidy. It simply helped offset some loose handling because Orlando shot better from three, outrebounded Memphis 52-40 and built a lead as large as 18.
