Magic diagnose Franz Wagner with high ankle sprain after awkward landing, return timetable TBD

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando Magic leading scorer Franz Wagner has a high sprain of his left ankle that will likely keep him out for multiple weeks.

The Magic announced the diagnosis on Monday after an MRI exam on Wagner, who was injured in the first quarter of their game at New York on Sunday when he was fouled hard while going up for a dunk and landed awkwardly on his left leg. The team said Wagner's return would depend on his response to treatment, but high sprains often take about a month to heal.

“You never want to see anybody go down, but that hurt my heart, watching him hit the floor,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.

Orlando hosts Miami on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup in-season tournament. Wagner is 23rd in the league with an average of 22.7 points per game. The Magic just got star Paolo Banchero back from injury after he missed 10 straight games with a left groin injury, so the restoration of the team's dynamic duo lasted less than five quarters before Wagner went down.

Wagner, the eighth overall pick in the 2021 draft, is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game and shooting 49% from the floor, both which would be career-best single-season rates.

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