Franz Wagner scored 38 points on Wednesday night at the Delta Center, carrying the Orlando Magic to a 123-108 victory over the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back.
The matchup featured two shorthanded squads battling back-and-forth for 48 minutes before Orlando pulled away with a dominant 38-point fourth quarter. NBA reported that the visitors used a balanced attack and defensive stops down the stretch to secure the win.
The Jazz played without Lauri Markkanen, who will miss at least the next month as veteran big men recover. Head coach Will Hardy turned to his young roster to shoulder the load against Orlando.
Darryn Peterson led Utah with 22 points and five assists. Ace Bailey contributed 18 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks, while Keyonte George chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists after returning from a one-game absence. Brice Sensabaugh added 19 points off the bench in 22 minutes.
“We have to keep fighting for our focus and to maintain it,” Will Hardy told NBA postgame regarding the team’s late-game struggles. “In the fourth quarter, our energy dipped a little bit… (But) I’m seeing some good trends.”
Utah leaned heavily on the 3-point line and the free-throw line to generate offense throughout the evening. The Jazz hit eight threes in the first quarter alone, finishing the night 14-of-44 from beyond the arc while adding 27 points from the stripe.
“It is a concentrated effort, full stop,” Hardy told NBA of the team’s perimeter volume. “The team did a good job in the first quarter, we had the defense on their heels. The volume of threes and catch-and-shoot (threes) was what we want.”
Despite staying competitive through three quarters and taking an 87-85 lead into the final frame, Utah committed six turnovers in the fourth quarter. Orlando capitalized by shooting 63 percent in the final 12 minutes.
Wagner paced all scorers with 38 points and nine rebounds for the Magic. Desmond Bane added 25 points, and Anthony Black contributed 22 points and eight assists in the win.
“He’s a big, physical player,” Hardy told NBA of Wagner. “I thought the Magic did a good job with their screening angles. But I thought we gave tremendous effort on Franz. I’m more concerned with Bane getting 11 threes off.”
The Jazz hit the road to take on the Houston Rockets on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. MT.
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