by Alma Bean
Feature Image by Megan Nielsen
The Utah Jazz (2-3) takes on the visiting Orlando Magic (2-2) before they go on their four-game road trip.
Poor Unfortunate Goals
After an impressive shooting outing the night before, Utah continued that trend to start off this matchup. Utah went 12/20 (60%) from the field while shooting 4/8 (50%) from the perimeter. John Collins (20 points and 10 rebounds) out the gate wanted to propel Utah towards their second straight win with his ability to score. Shooting 3/3 (100%) from the field and accounting 10 of Utah’s points for the quarter, Collins wanted to send Orlando home empty handed. Moritz Wagner (10/1/1) almost followed Collins shot for shot going 3/4 (75%) from the field account for eight of Orlando’s points. The battle in the paint resulted in a 34-30 lead for Utah at the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, Utah lost their shooting magic. Even with Walker Kessler (4/10/1) excelling on defense getting five blocks before the half, Wendell Carter Jr. (14/10/2) managed to expose Kessler on the perimeter shooting 3/4 (75%) for the half. Scary moment for Utah fans before the end of the half as Lauri Markkanen (22/7/1) took a fall directly onto his lower back and took a moment to get up with a little bit of assistance. Markkanen would check out of the game briefly before return before Orlando went into the half with a 66-58 lead.
When It Rains, It Pours
Before the start of the second half, Orlando announced that Gary Harris (1 assist), who was filling in for the injured Markelle Fultz, would be inactive for the rest of the game due to a groin injury. This opened up opportunities for Cole Anthony (18/7/7) who scored seven of Orlando’s 24 points for the quarter. With Kelly Olynyk (4/2/3) getting into foul trouble early, having four fouls before the end of the third quarter, this gave an opportunity for Omer Yurtseven (7 points and 3 rebounds). Yurtseven’s ability to stretch the floor along with his ability to command the paint on the defensive end has shown that Utah has a deep bench and the “next man up” mentality is alive in Salt Lake City. Exploring the bench led to Utah fighting back to cut Orlando’s lead to 90-86 as they went into the final quarter.
With Utah struggling to find an answer to Orlando’s athleticism, Markkanen in clutch was able to hit back-to-back perimeter shots to put Utah up 113-112 with 19.2 seconds left in the game. Banchero wasted no time after their timeout and drove straight to the basket to put Orlando up by one with 14.1 seconds left. Utah had plenty of time to look for a clear open shot and Talen Horton-Tucker (15/3/8) took matters into his own hands but failed to convert. Olynyk quickly fouled Carter Jr. which led to injury towards Carter Jr.’s wrist taking him out of the game with 1.3 seconds left in the game. After the timeout by Utah to give them one more shot to try and either tie the game or take the win, Olynyk was set to inbound the ball from midcourt. Olynyk looked as if he had Keyonte George (6/2/3) open to potentially tie the game up, but Olynyk was late on the inbound and solidifying the 117-115 loss to Orlando.
What’s Next?
Utah will start their four-game road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-2) on Saturday.
The Hive Sports 
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