{"id":619994,"date":"2026-05-02T22:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/619994\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T22:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:10:08","slug":"magics-franz-wagner-out-for-game-7-showdown-with-pistons-missing-third-straight-game-with-calf-strain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/619994\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic’s Franz Wagner out for Game 7 showdown with Pistons, missing third straight game with calf strain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Orlando Magic<\/a> will not have Franz Wagner<\/a> available for Sunday\u2019s Game 7 matchup versus the Detroit Pistons<\/a>. The fifth-year forward is listed as out on the latest NBA injury report with a strained right calf.<\/p>\n

Wagner, 24, will miss his third consecutive playoff game after suffering the calf injury late in Orlando\u2019s Game 4 win over Detroit<\/a>. He returned to the sideline to ride an exercise bike, but did not return to the game. An MRI exam the next day revealed the strain.<\/p>\n

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That 94<\/a>-88 victory<\/a> gave the Magic a 3-1 series lead and advancing to the second round seemed imminent. However, the Pistons have since come back to win the next two games, including Friday\u2019s stunning Game 6 comeback<\/a> in which Orlando squandered a 24-point lead and scored only 19 points in the second half.<\/p>\n

Wagner was the Magic\u2019s second-leading scorer during the regular season, averaging 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He also shot 35% on 3-pointers. But Wagner appeared in only 34 games due to a high-ankle sprain.<\/p>\n

In the four playoff games he played before getting injured, Wagner has been Orlando\u2019s third-leading scorer at 16.8 points per game, shooting 33% on 3s while also averaging 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 steals.<\/p>\n

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Would the Magic have already closed out this series if Wagner had been available? In his place, Jamal Cain<\/a> scored three points and Tristan da Silva<\/a> added 10 off the bench in Game 6.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly possible Wagner would have shot as poorly as his teammates (35% from the floor). Paolo Banchero<\/a> hit four of his 20 shots, Desmond Bane<\/a> shot 7-of-18 and Jalen Suggs<\/a> went 1-for-10.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s season is at stake, but Wagner\u2019s absence indicates how seriously calf injuries are currently viewed in the NBA. Teams have taken extra caution with treatment and recovery, especially when calf injuries have often developed into season-ending Achilles injuries.<\/p>\n

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The Magic and Pistons tip off for Sunday\u2019s Game 7 from Detroit\u2019s Little Caesars Arena at 3:30 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Magic will not have Franz Wagner available for Sunday\u2019s Game 7 matchup versus the Detroit Pistons.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[268753,114223,4576,56239,56222,217879,355,11950,56234,99,118400,56250],"class_list":["post-619994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-calf-injuries","tag-desmond-bane","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-franz-wagner","tag-jalen-suggs","tag-jamal-cain","tag-nba","tag-orlando-magic","tag-paolo-banchero","tag-sports","tag-the-magic","tag-tristan-da-silva"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}