For the first time in the NBA’s history, a regular season game will be played this afternoon in Germany. The timing really couldn’t be any better, either.
Franz Wagner, who has missed the Magic’s last 16 games with an ankle injury, will return to action in his home country. His brother, Moe Wagner, who missed 13 months with an ACL tear, will also be available after making his 2025-256 debut in Orlando’s win over the Pelicans this past Sunday. The Wagner brothers were main characters in Germany winning the FIBA World Cup back in 2023.
The Magic will obviously be the crowd favorite, but can the Grizzlies pull off the upset in Europe? Let’s preview this international game with the help of some of some odds and lines on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Grizzlies at Magic prediction, preview
The Magic just can’t seem to find their stride this season. The team has flip-flopped between wins and losses so far in January, though wins over the Pacers, Nets and Pelicans aren’t much to be proud of — nor are losses to the Bulls and the Wizards, if we’re being completely honest. Orlando has simply been a picture of mediocrity in a campaign where so much more was expected. Heck, the Magic come into Thursday afternoon’s tilt ranking 15th of the league’s 30 squads in net rating (+1.0). You can not exceed this level of middle-of-the-road.
A major reason for the underwhelming nature of Orlando’s 2025-26 has been injuries, namely the extended loss of the aforementioned Franz Wagner. In the 24 starts the former eighth-overall pick made prior to his ankle issue, Wagner looked like a sure-fire All-Star, averaging 22.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest, with a much-improved 36.0% mark from beyond the three-point arc. That last element was crucial for a Magic team that sat dead-last in three-point shooting in 2024-25 (31.8%). The offseason addition of Desmond Bane was also supposed to help change that flaw, though that has not quite gone to plan, as Bane is shooting a career-low 33.8% from distance, which has translated to another career-low in effective shooting percentage (50.6%). You know what they say about the best laid plans.
Speaking of injury woes, the basketball fans of Berlin will unfortunately miss out on seeing a couple of the Grizzlies’ stars on Thursday, as both Ja Morant (calf) and Zach Edey (ankle) will remain sidelined. Memphis has now dropped six of its last eight games, and while the team is technically still sitting in the final Play-In spot in the Western Conference, it feels like the Grizzlies are headed back to the lottery — especially if they end up trading the disgruntled Morant before next month’s trade deadline.
One bright spot for Memphis has been the play of rookie Cedric Coward, the 11th-overall pick in this past summer’s draft. Coward has been starting for the Grizzlies since mid-November. He ranks third among all first-year players in rebounds (240), while he is one of just five rookies to have scored at least 500 points at the mid-way point of the regular season.
Grizzlies at Magic pick, best bet
Best Bet: Magic -4.5 (-118)
The Grizzlies are slipping down the West standings and they’ve lost 23 of their last 25 games against opponents with a winning record. This tilt just means more for the Magic, too, as they have three German-born players in their rotation. Expect Orlando to come out strong and cover this spread with ease.
