Orlando Magic center Moritz “Mo” Wagner will undergo surgery for a torn ACL sustained during Saturday’s game against the Miami Heat.
He will miss the rest of the season.
In the Magic’s comeback 121-114 win, Wagner was helped off the court favoring his left knee after it buckled during the first quarter.
“We’re all praying for him,” Orlando center Goga Bitadze said Saturday. “This one was for Mo. It’s really bad to see one of our brothers go down. Like we’ve been saying, ‘Next man up.’ But this guy deserved better than this.”
Wagner, 27, was averaging 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 30 games this season and had been a steadying presence in Orlando’s lineup with the Magic dealing with numerous other injuries.
Franz Wagner, Mo’s younger brother, and Paolo Banchero are Orlando’s top two scorers, and both are out while recovering from a torn right oblique.
Mortiz, a native of Germany, was selected 25th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Over seven NBA seasons with the Lakers, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics and Magic, Wagner has averaged 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
