Orlando (11-8) pushed its winning streak to five games, the Magic’s best streak since 2012.
The two young teams tested their progress against one another Thursday night in Salt Lake City. Orlando forward Tobias Harris scored 17 points and the Magic beat the Utah Jazz 103-94.Utah allowed 29 points in the first quarter and was up by three at the end of the half with a score of 57-54. After the Magic turnover in the second half, Utah’s Gordon Hayward’s 3-pointer pushed the Jazz lead to 68-62.Later in the third, Elfrid Payton’s made a driving layup, cutting Orlando’s deficit to just one point. Payton had 14 points and seven assists.
Orlando gained the lead later in the third after Victor Oladipo scored a 21-foot jumper. There were 20 lead changes in this match up. Utah’s Trey Burke had a pull up jumper that gave the Jazz a 75-74 lead once again.The Magic went into the fourth quarter slightly trailing, but they quickly took back control. Evan Fournier’s 3-point shot put Orlando ahead 92-84. The Jazz cut their deficit to four, but Nikola Vucevic hit an 18-foot jumper and Payton scored a transition layup, pushing their lead up to eight.
Orlando Magic head coach Scott Skiles says the team had to figure out how to come through with a win in the close game.
Harris says the Magic need to keep their five game winning streak going.
Both the Magic and Jazz are on the edge of the playoff race in their respective conferences.