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Orlando Magic player Franz Wagner (in the game against the Milwaukee Bucks)
Photo:
Scott Audette / dpa
With the best game of his NBA career, Franz Wagner surpassed the young Dirk Nowitzki: The 20-year-old scored 38 points in the 110: 127 of his Orlando Magic against Master Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday evening (local time).
He was not only the best thrower of the game - on the other hand, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo only got 28 points - but also set several best scores.
The 38 points against Milwaukee were not only the best personal result in Wagner's first NBA season so far, but also the best value among all this year's newcomers to the league.
In addition, the Berliner beat the record held by Nowitzki for German NBA newbies.
Nowitzki had once scored 29 points in his first season for the Dallas Mavericks in 1998.
Candidate for "Rookie of the Year"
In contrast to the later superstar Nowitzki, the 2.08 meter tall Franz Wagner hardly has any problems getting used to the NBA.
In his eighth game he came within one point of Nowitzki's rookie record.
His coach Jamahl Mosley already praised Wagner for his "basketball IQ, his understanding of the game and the things he sees".
That would make him, who made his debut for Alba Berlin in the basketball league at the age of 16 and then proved himself on the University of Michigan college team, something special.
It is no coincidence that Wagner was drafted in eighth place, as high as Detlef Schrempf once before him - and one better than Nowitzki.
In the upheaval Orlando Magic, currently the second worst team in the league with only seven wins in 35 games, Franz Wagner also plays alongside his older brother Moritz.
But while the 24-year-old always comes off the bench in his fourth season in the NBA, Franz has always been part of the starting line-up and has more than 32 minutes playing time per game.
Among the rookies, he now leads the point statistics, tied with Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors.
At the latest with his gala against the Bucks, Franz Wagner also played his way into the wider circle of candidates for "Rookie of the Year".
Stephen Curry throws 3000th threesome
Three-time record scorer Stephen Curry also caused a stir.
He had already broken the old record of NBA legend Ray Allen, and specialist Curry had to wait an unusually long time for the distinctive three-point number 3000.
35 minutes had already passed in the game of his Golden State Warriors against the Denver Nuggets, seven times he had tried from the semicircle - but only the eighth throw was 5.3 seconds before the end of the third section: This makes Curry the first player in history the NBA, which could crack the 3000 mark with three-point throws.
In the fourth quarter, Curry finished four more three-point throws, including one with 2:08 to go, which brought the Warriors to 84:82.
In the end, however, Currys Warriors lost this striking game 86:89.
sak / dpa / Reuters
