Roughly 48 hours ago, the Miami Heat concluded their two-game road trip against the Orlando Magic, whose three stars played their first game together since Nov. 12.
However, Orlando will be down one of its stars when it sees the Heat again on Tuesday, this time in the Emirates Cup quarterfinals with a trip to Las Vegas, Nev., on the line. Magic forward Franz Wagner suffered a high ankle sprain Sunday against the New York Knicks, his MRI revealed.
Wagner led the Magic with 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting in the Magic’s one-point win Friday against the Miami Heat. Magic star Paolo Banchero was on a significant minutes restriction, and Bane struggled mightily, scoring just five points on 2-of-16 shooting.
Now, Bane and Banchero will be tasked with leading the charge over the next few weeks.
Heat have their own injuries to navigate, too:
There’s been an unfortunate rash of injuries occurring around the NBA, including to star guard Tyler Herro, who’s missed 19 of the team’s 24 available games due to numerous injuries.
Miami was also without guards Davion Mitchell and Pelle Larsson Saturday against the Sacramento Kings, the second night of a back-to-back. It resulted in a 127-111 loss, spearheaded by Zach LaVine’s 42-point masterclass.
Mitchell, Larsson and Herro are all probable to play, while Dru Smith (hip) is questionable with a hip contusion.
Tuesday’s tip-off will be at 6:00 p.m. EST, with the winner facing the winner between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors on Saturday, Dec. 13.
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a wagnerless magic gotta get a w.
Hopefully, Miami finds its mojo, defense, pace and 3 point shot. They seem to have lost all four in the past couple of weeks. They should have won 4 of their last 5 games, not lost 4 of 5.
not saying he was the cause of downslide but when herro came back slide started,the heat were playing so well why mess with the chemistry.
It’s true when herro got back they were t as fast anymore and was looking for him more than passing the ball looking for the best shot. Also he was put right back in the starting lineup spo didn’t even bother easing him back into the lineup (come off the bench for a game or two) messed up chemistry
Is this the biggest Miami vs. Orlando game ever? I don’t ever remember a playoff series between these two
I don’t care…what we all want to hear “Magic facing a new look Heat with Giannis for the Emirates Cup Quarterfinals.” Sounds great right? 😄😂