Sensabaugh Lifts Jazz Past Magic

Orlando, FL— Concluding a quick two-game road trip up north, the Magic returned to host the Jazz and lost 105-92 on Sunday evening. After finishing with a career-high 34 points in Miami last night, Utah’s Brice Sensabaugh picked up right where he left off having another strong performance finishing the night with a game-high 27 points leading the Jazz to victory, while Orlando’s sophomore Jett Howard had a career-high 21 points himself.

Lengthy Injury Report

The Jazz and Magic came into this game with an extended list of injuries. Orlando came into this matchup without Jalen Suggs (lower back), Paolo Banchero (return to competition reconditioning), Gary Harris (hamstring), Franz Wagner (oblique), Moritz Wagner (knee), and Anthony Black (back) was upgraded to available tonight after being listed questionable.

Utah was just as thin with injuries as they were missing Jordan Clarkson (plantar fasciitis), Taylor Hendricks (leg), Lauri Markkanen (lower back spasms), John Collins (personal reasons), and Keyonte George (left heel soreness).

Black and Banchero Injury Updates

Anthony Black despite being available didn’t check into the game and logged zero minutes.

“I think being able to get him in the right way is going to be very important,” Mosley on why Black didn’t play tonight. “I think tomorrow will be something that we’ll have to look at, but just throwing him out there in a game like this, as it was the first day of him being available, I think we’re gonna have to look at some more time, some more pregame reps to be able to look at it the right way. We’ll see how that looks tomorrow as well.”

Jamahl Mosley provided an update on the injury status of Paolo Banchero.

“I think he’s just building that cardio up, building his conditioning up. I think those are big pieces for him. Being able to be on the floor, do some contact things. But just slowly but surely, he’s working his way up. Then it’s always like we continue to say, how do they respond to the things that we’ve done the previous day. I think those are going to be very important before he finds his way to the floor.”

Jazz Dominate Second Half

With an onslaught of injuries and Cole Anthony getting his first start of the season, the Magic have now used 13 different starting lineups. Orlando ultimately couldn’t find any rhythm or consistency tonight as they essentially got run off the court in the second half of play being outscored 62-49.

“I think a big portion of it was they hit a lot of good ones,” Mosley on how Utah pulled away in the second half. “You got to give them credit for the way in which they came out. They turned it up. We missed a lot of long shots that led to long rebounds and they were out on the break.”

Utah out physical’d, out-rebounded, and just flat-out dominated this game on the inside all evening long. The Jazz outrebounded the Magic 50-43, including 11 of those being on the offensive glass, and outscored the Magic 52-36 with points in the paint.

Career Night for Jett Howard

One of the very few bright spots for the Magic was second-year guard Jett Howard who had a career-high and team-high 21 points while knocking down four shots from behind the arch.

“The shots were not falling,” Mosley on the Magic’s shooting woes tonight. “There was some wide-open great looks, they didn’t go in. I think you have to know that you can’t control that, but you can continue to control your effort, your energy.”

Final Numbers from Home Loss

For Utah Collin Sexton put together a solid performance after a slow start to the game finishing with 20 points and connecting on three shots from deep. Although 105 points was a solid defensive effort by the Magic defensively Utah still shot 39 of 82 (47.6%) from the field and 11 of 32 (34.4%) from distance.

“Walker Kessler had 10 [points] and 17 [rebounds] I think he’s a big body down there,” Jamahl Mosley on how the Magic handled the Jazz’s starting five tonight. “I think we could’ve done more. But again, it’s a part of the way this league is. You can’t hang your head too long.”

Orlando struggled all night scoring just 92 points while shooting 35 of 98 (35.7%) from the floor, 14 of 47 (29.8%) from deep, and just 8 of 13 (61.5%) from the charity stripe. 

Otherwise, there wasn’t much to say about this performance as both the coaching staff and players will have to wash this away and prepare for a quick turnaround tomorrow evening as the Magic play the Knicks on the second night of a back-to-back in New York.