The Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz come into Thursday night carrying the same ugly early-season problem: shots just aren’t falling.
Orlando is hitting 33.5 percent from the floor after a 10-for-38 performance in Tuesday’s win over the Sacramento Kings. Utah is even colder, sitting at 32.8 percent after going 13-for-33 in Tuesday’s loss to the Miami Heat.
Both teams have players who can shoot, and both teams are willing to let it fly. The results, though, have been rough.
Desmond Bane has been part of that struggle for Orlando lately, going 7-for-22 over his last two games. Even so, he’s still at 36.0 percent on 9.9 attempts per game, and he has been getting clean looks.
He is shooting 50.0 percent on 3.8 wide-open 3-point attempts per game. Against the Jazz, who have their own shot-makers in Keyonte George and rookie Darryn Peterson, that kind of spacing could matter.
George is shooting 30.5 percent from three, while Peterson has been the best of the bunch at 37.7 percent from deep. Beyond that, Utah doesn’t have much volume shooting to lean on.
What has started to separate Orlando over the last two games is the work on the glass. The Magic had 24 offensive rebounds in the loss to the Golden State Warriors and 12 more in Tuesday’s win over Sacramento. They’ve reached at least 10 offensive boards in four of their last five games, and the numbers back up the trend: a 32.4 percent offensive rebound rate for the season, which has climbed to 37.1 percent over the last five games.
The bigger development may be on the defensive end. Orlando has posted a league-leading 75.5 percent defensive rebound rate over its last five games, a sharp improvement after a slow start for a team that is supposed to make rebounding part of its identity. That extra possession work is helping cover for the offense, and with Utah’s frontcourt injuries piling up, it could be a major factor again.
The Jazz’s injury situation took another hit Wednesday when Lauri Markkanen was ruled out for at least a month with a non-displaced fracture in his right hand. He’s averaging 18.0 points per game and shooting 39.7 percent from the field, which has been a slow start for the former All-Star big. Utah was already without Jaren Jackson Jr., and that loss has damaged both the defense and the team’s hopes after going all-in this season by sending its first-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the Jackson deal.
Now the Jazz are trying to piece things together while their young wings try to carry more than the team expected. The results so far have not matched the plan.
Orlando’s injury list is just as crowded. Paolo Banchero is out with a right high ankle sprain, Jalen Suggs is out with a right knee contusion/bone bruise, Tristan da Silva is questionable with a left calf strain, Noah Penda is out with a right partially torn hamstring, Jamal Cain is questionable with a left shoulder contusion, Jonathan Isaac is out with left knee injury management, and Izaiyah Nelson is out with left ankle injury recovery.
Utah’s report includes Markkanen out with the right hand fracture, Jackson out with a right MCL tear, Keyonte George questionable with a right ankle sprain, Jusuf Nurkic out with a right 2nd plantar plate tear, and Trey Alexander out on a G-League two-way.
Projected starters have Anthony Black at point guard, Desmond Bane at shooting guard, Jamal Cain at small forward, Franz Wagner at power forward and Wendell Carter at center for Orlando. Utah is projected to start Darryn Peterson, Josh Green, Josh Okogie, Ace Bailey and Jaxson Hayes.
The Magic are 4-6 and 4-6 ATS entering the game. They still haven’t fully answered the question of whether they’ve turned a corner, and that won’t really be clear until they face stronger opponents. But the last two games have shown something real on defense, and that matters more right now than pretty shooting numbers.
Orlando is finding different ways to score, which is important with the injuries piling up. The win over Sacramento was the kind of comfortable result the Magic needed, and they’ll try to build on it against a Jazz team that is also short-handed and struggling.
The trip won’t be easy, either. Traveling east across time zones to elevation is no small task. Orlando will still need to make enough shots to breathe a little easier, but the bigger story is that its defense is starting to settle in and win games.
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Shorthanded Magic Just Proved Something Important On This Road Trip
On the second night of a back-to-back, with a short bench and a long injury list, Orlando still found a way to look like a team with some fight in it. The Magic went into Utah and handled the Jazz 123-108, getting a huge night from Franz Wagner, who led the way with 38 points, while Desmond Bane added 25 and Anthony Black chipped in 22.
The bigger takeaway for Orlando was not just the result, but the manner in which it came. Playing with only 10 available players, the Magic improved to 4-7 and showed they can still generate enough offense and composure to win on the road even when the rotation is stretched thin. For a group trying to steady itself early in the season, that kind of response matters. [Read more 🡒]
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Wendell Carter Jr. Is Back At The Center Of A Magic Debate
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The latest buzz comes from the Warriors side of the league, where interior depth has become a talking point as Kristaps Porzingis has stepped away for health reasons. One analyst floated a framework that would send Porzingis and draft capital to Orlando for Carter, a move that would give Golden State a different kind of frontcourt fit while putting the Magic in position to weigh whether Carters current role is the right long-term one. [Read more 🡒]