Why didn't Franz Wagner play for Germany in win vs Australia today? Reason for Magic swingman's benching explored

Franz Wagner did not suit up for Germany's 85-82 win over Australia in the FIBA World Cup 2023.

According to ESPN's Olgun Uluc, the Orlando Magic forward suffered an ankle injury during the fourth quarter of the team's World Cup opener against Japan. He had 10 points (5-of-12 shooting), 6 rebounds and 5 assists in Germany's dominant 81-63 win over the World Cup host.

Wagner was seen with a moon boot to help his injury, and was listed as day-to-day prior to the matchup.

German team doctor, Oliver Putz discussed the nature of Franz Wagner's injury prior to today's game, as per ESPN's Olgun Uluc:

"Nothing is broken, torn, or anything like this, things that would end the FIBA World Cup for him. Franz feels better this morning than yesterday. We did another MRI this morning. But the problem is that we don't have the imaging yet, so we can't say exactly what's hurt yet."

Germany was able to squeeze out an 85-82 win in a tightly-contested game against Australia. Germany was able to shoot more efficiently than their opponent with their 2-pointers at 64% along with their free throw shooting at 80%.

Dennis Schroder tallied 30 points (10-of-19 shooting, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range) and 8 assists, while Maodo Lo contributed 20 points (8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range).

Franz Wagner's brother, Moritz Wagner, played 15:35 minutes and had 4 points (1-of-5 shooting) with 4 rebounds.

Germany's basketball team coach George Herbert on Franz Wagner's injury status

Following the victory against Australia, Germany's basketball team coach George Herbert briefly talked about Franz Wagner's status as of now, as per NBA's Dan Savage:

"It was a great team win without him," Herbert said. "Concerning (Franz's status for) Finland, I have no idea. It's really just day-to-day treatment. We'll kind of have to see what his situation is tomorrow."

Germany is one of the teams to watch out for in this year's FIBA World Cup as they have a quality roster with NBA players leading the way.

Germany will hope that Franz Wagner will be ready for their future games.

His injury comes at an unfortunate time as he is coming off a great sophomore season with the Orland Magic.

In the 2022 season, Wagner averaged 18.6 points per game (48.5% shooting, including 36.1% from 3-point range) and 4.1 rebounds.