LOS ANGELES – The shot is what fans will remember; Franz Wagner called it the biggest of his young NBA career.

For the Orlando Magic, however, the real story is everything that led to the shooting.

On Thursday, the Magic forward capped one of the best games by an Orlando player in recent memory — and possibly wrote his own All-Star origin story — with a game-winning 3-pointer over Cam Reddish with 3.1 seconds left to go, leading the Magic to a 119-118 victory over a Lakers team that had won six in a row.

The shot gave him 37 points and 11 assists on the night, surpassing the first 35-point, 10-assist performance by a Magic player in more than 20 years.

However, this did not just come out of the blue. Talk to the Magic about Wagner’s practice habits, work ethic and approach to the game, and it becomes clear that no one was surprised by his performance… or that he was able to take the team to seven wins in the last eight games in the absence of top forward Paolo Banchero. with a torn oblique muscle.

“He’s been doing this for a while,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “He continues to step into that role where he has to dominate and be the focal point.”

It’s not like he hasn’t had big moments before either. Wagner was a key player in the Germany team that won the 2023 World Cup, trailing the US by 22 points in a semi-final win and 19 in the gold medal match against Serbia. But on an NBA stage, this was his breakthrough moment.

So when Anthony Davis left the door open for the Magic by missing two free throws with 18 seconds left, Wagner took the ball from Goga Bitadze, and the other Orlando players stood aside and watched him go about it, trusting on the work he would do. done to prepare for this.

“People talk about good (shot), bad (shot), good luck, bad luck,” Mosley said. “He’s working on that. That’s the thing, he’s working on those big shots, 3…2…1…take the shot.

Wagner wanted to get a more favorable matchup than Davis’ monstrous presence, so he engineered a switch to get Reddish instead — still a big, tall defender. He originally hoped to explore a path to the basket to take advantage of the long-stepping skills that have made him a star, but when he didn’t see a clear opening, he went for Plan B and reverted to his step. left to the game winner.

“We were down by two, I was lucky they missed a couple free throws at the end and we didn’t have any timeouts,” Wagner said. “At first I had (Anthony Davis) with me and found a way to push that match a little bit. They were set up pretty well, so I didn’t really see a lane.

“I was thinking about the best shot (and not just the three shots). I would have taken him to the basket too, but I didn’t see any lanes and I was a little bigger than Reddish, so I tried to shoot over him.”

But again, don’t just focus on this piece and this recording. Instead, look at everything that led up to it, from the work he did in the summer with this three-point shot, to the first half where he patiently attacked LA’s defense with skip passes to the weak side, to the endgame situations. he rehearsed in practice. And also look at him after the shot went in: he punched his chest with his fist, but then ice-coldly marched to the bench and pointed one finger at everyone for another stop. It wasn’t until Davis’ last shot went wrong that he pumped his fist, bumped Jalen Suggs and Jett Howard, and was quickly mobbed by the rest of the bench.

The fourth-year forward known in the locker room as “Boogie” has averaged 27.5 points, 6.3 assists and 6.0 rebounds over his last 10 games, all of which came without Banchero. The 37 points were a season high and the 11 assists were a career high, but he’s threatened those totals multiple times over the last two weeks — this wasn’t a wild outlier.

So the story is not that this one shot accidentally ended up in the net. It’s that the 6-foot-4 forward’s ball skills have evolved to the point where he essentially operates as the team’s point guard, and his scoring is so powerful that everyone in the building knew he got the ball on the last two possession (he also drove for a layup with 20 seconds left) and he still scored.

No one understands that better than his older brother, roommate, carpool partner and Magic teammate Mo Wagner.

“He did a good job,” the elder Wagner said. “If he doesn’t make that shot, I’ll kick him….”

He then added more seriously, “It’s really cool to have a superstar in your family.” It’s amazing, the way he works, how determined he is, how diligent he is, how obsessed he is, it’s unbelievable. The fact that I can see it is great too.”

And it was perhaps fitting that he won the game with an off-dribble three-pointer, the one skill that caused him the most trouble in the 2023-24 season, when he fell to 28.1 percent from distance. That percentage includes a last-second draw attempt in the same building a year ago that was blocked by LeBron James.

“For us players, many things are also mental,” said Franz Wagner. “It means a lot to me to kind of overcome the jump in the summer and carry that into the season.

“I’ve come a long way since I came into the league, but last year was a struggle for me at times. Progress is never just linear; you just have to stay sober.”

After the good payback period for Thursday’s injection, it will be back to 34.4 percent in 2024-2025. And that happened despite Banchero’s absence, which often gave him a more challenging shot mix off the dribble, like the one that beat the Lakers.

“I work a lot on my off-the-dribble 3, and you work on it for those moments,” he said. “I went into it with confidence.”

And after that shot and Jonathan Isaac’s defense to deflect a desperation shot by Davis at the buzzer, the Magic team jumped onto the court to celebrate what could be a defining victory for this rising group… a first All-Star trip.

“Yes, Boogie is special,” Suggs said. “That was like a movie moment.”

“It was a crazy experience, a crazy adrenaline rush,” Wagner said. “It’s great to see your teammates so happy for you.”

(Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)