Orlando, FL— An electric atmosphere and a thrilling victory for the Orlando Magic as they defeated the Utah Jazz 115-107, and they swept the season series for the first time since 2015.
Orlando got off to a good start in the opening period as Gary Harris knocked down two big threes, Paolo Banchero had a nice two-handed slam over John Collins off a missed layup, and the bench unit didn’t miss a beat when they came into the game. Orlando led Utah by seven after the first period and they led the Jazz 53-51 going into the halftime locker room.
Utah led the Magic 82-80 going into the fourth, but it was all Orlando in that final period of play. Paolo Banchero dominated on the inside and he went to the line a total of 11 times in the evening, converting on eight of them. Jalen Suggs knocked down a handful of shots from behind the arch that ignited the crowd, and Franz Wagner got a coast-to-coast slam off a turnover by Jordan Clarkson that was the icing on the cake for the Magic.
Jalen Suggs may not have had the biggest impact on the game, but he was undoubtedly the hero down the stretch to propel this Magic team to victory. After a quiet first half where Suggs went scoreless in the first half, he followed it up with 15 in the second half including 10 in the fourth quarter alone. In the fourth period, Suggs knocked down three triples and his last one put the Magic up 110-103 with 1:09 left in the game as his teammates and the crowd went berserk.
“I think that’s what you do it for at the end of the day, to win, to enjoy time with your teammates, with your brothers.” Jalen Suggs on his roller coaster of emotions in the fourth quarter. “So to have those moments, you know, is super dope. Super dope.”
Paolo Banchero who missed the last two games (illness) made his return tonight in front of the home crowd and had a game-high 29 points while also chipping in nine rebounds and six assists. Banchero was sensational all night long and he took over in that fourth quarter as he scored 14 in the final period alone. Paolo had the mismatch on the rookie Taylor Hendricks both in size and physicality as he exploited that matchup going at him on the block to get his rhythm going to close out the game.
“The great part about this group is there’s a high level of communication of what’s working, what’s not working.” Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley on Paolo Banchero exploiting his matchup with Taylor Hendricks in the fourth quarter. “ You find that was one of the matchups you can go to at that moment— and that was one of the things about him being able to find that rhythm after being out for a few games.”
Despite it coming in a winning effort tonight, Jamahl Mosley addressed his team in the locker room and the media that the team didn’t play to their standard. He wanted to see the team do a much better job of knocking down their free throw attempts (21-31) and 15 turnovers which led to 25 Jazz points.
However, Mosley was pleased with his group in terms of the growth this season and how it is shown in the win column. Orlando all of last season had 34 wins and tonight’s win over the Jazz marked their 34rd win of the season as we still have a month and a half left of basketball left to be played.
“Wanting to continue to grow and get better. It says a lot about this coaching staff who they put in so much work with these guys and for themselves to be able to help these guys reach the highest levels of success that they can.” Jamahl Mosley on the team’s growth this season. “And so that to me, that’s what it says about a phenomenal group of young men and coaches.”
Orlando is starting to find their identity, they’re getting healthy again, and they have a very favorable schedule in March as they have the most favorable schedule to close out the season. The month of March will be critical for the Magic as they will have ten games at home and a stretch of eight consecutive home games that lasts from March 17 through April 1.
The Magic will take these next two days to rest up and recover as they will play host to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, March 3rd at the Kia Center.