NBA Game Notes: Players stepping up for sitting stars

Notes from: ORL-PHI, BOS-DET, BKN-IND and ATL-MIL

Whew…what a night! The NBA games were kind of so-so. A lot of stars were out, so there were some interesting step-up performances across the board.

NCAA was where it was at. Multiple big-time matchups and a whole bunch of prospects stood out. We’ll cover it all, with copious amounts of clips, in a second post to come later today.

Here’s what I saw in the NBA on Wednesday!

Orlando Magic - 106 at Philadelphia 76ers - 102

• Franz Wagner should be a no-brainer All-Star this season. He’s been awesome all year, but especially so after Paolo Banchero went down. He really carried Orlando to this road win.

  This has become Wagner’s go-to shot, especially against smaller defenders. He meanders his way into the paint before knocking down the floater. This is a multiple times per game thing for Wagner:

• As good as Franz Wagner was, the Magic bench was just as big a part of this win for Orlando. Jonathan Isaac, Anthony Black, Moe Wagner and Tristan da Silva all contributed in their minutes. Orlando’s depth is still underrated somehow.

• The Magic overwhelmed the Sixers inside. Orlando finished with 16 offensive rebounds, and they shot 32-of-49 in shots around the paint, including 25-of-34 in the restricted area. That’s huge for a team that is still really shaky with three-point shooting.

• Jared McCain put together another strong game. He was also the better/more competitive defender of the Sixers small backcourt with Tyrese Maxey.

• Tough shooting night for Tyrese Maxey. It happens, but Philadelphia probably won’t win very many games without Joel Embiid and Paul George when Maxey goes 0-for-7 from behind the arc.

• Really liked this drive-and-dish from Guerschon Yabusele. Philadelphia could have used him more as the playmaking hub in this one. Something to file away for future games.

Detroit Pistons - 120 at Boston Celtics - 130

• Good win for the Celtics, who played without Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday. Boston was never really threatened in this one, despite Detroit making a few runs.

• Everyone ate for Boston, as six guys his double-figures in points. The Celtics also had 30 assists on 45 baskets, including 11 from Derrick White and nine from Jaylen Brown.

• Speaking of Brown…he was unstoppable in the first half, with 23 points. In the second half, Detroit got into Brown more and pressured him. The Celtics star didn’t force it though. He kept the ball moving. Good stuff from Brown, who sometimes can get tunnel vision.

• Payton Pritchard continues to kill it off the bench. Early leader for Sixth Man of the Year.

• Terrific games for Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet too. Joe Mazzulla has complete faith that he can call on any player on his roster to step in and give him good minutes. The reason? Mazzulla doesn’t ask them to be the player they are replacing. He just asks that players be the best version of themselves. That’s huge for confidence.

• Cade Cunningham was really good throughout this game. He was the reason Detroit was even in it. But in the first half, Cunningham’s facial and body language was terrible. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

  The Pistons need him to be a great player and a great leader. He was much better after halftime about leading in a positive way.

• It was good to see Ron Holland II pull a couple of no-hesitation threes. He’s got to keep taking them to keep defenses honest.

• Really active game from Marcus Sasser. His fullcourt pressure made life really hard on Payton Pritchard and Derrick White a few times.

• Detroit needed to shoot more threes. They were falling in this game, but the Pistons too often passed up good looked from behind the arc to force the ball inside. Embrace the three-ball, especially when you are making them!