Orlando Magic SF Franz Wagner Emphasizes Defensive Intensity

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner spoke about the defensive mindset he and the team have.

After a win against the Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner spoke about the team's defensive mindset. 

"I think defensively we were pretty good all night, we just, especially in the first half, didn't finish the possessions a lot of times, they got second chance points," Wagner said. "But yeah, I think guys come in the game and want to change the game on that end and I mean that definitely translates. You can see we talk about, sometimes you can't control how good you play on offense but the defense for us has to travel. I think we did a solid job today and hopefully we can continue to do that."

The Orlando Magic have started the season with two wins against the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers.  / USA Today Sports

In the fourth quarter, the Magic held the Trail Blazers to just 17 points en route to a 102-97 win. Portland shot 39.8 percent from the field on 88 attempts, and went 9-for-32 from deep. 

They were able to put together strong performance despite not getting contributions from defensive standout Jonathan Isaac. The team is trying to be cautious with the big man's minutes as he has dealt with a lot of injuries in the recent past.

Orlando played well defensively for the second game in a row after holding the Houston Rockets to 86 points in the season opener. The Magic forced 19 turnovers against the Rockets and then had 10 steals and five blocks against the Trail Blazers. 

Wagner has had a hot start to the season as well, scoring 19 points against Houston and 23 points against Portland. Orlando has three more games left on the west coast road trip against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz.