The Utah Jazz absolutely demolished the Orlando Magic on Saturday night to the tune of a 137-91 victory.
High notes
- When Joe Ingles is heat checking in the first quarter, you know things are going well for the Jazz. Ingles took four 3s in the first five minutes of the game and hit the first three. THAT is the kind of volume that is great to see from him.
- And the Jazz shooting did not slow down at all. They set an NBA record for 3s made in a half with 18 in the first 24 minutes. Donovan Mitchell was basically an automatic bucket on pull-ups, going 6 of 7 from deep and finishing with a very easy 22 points. Bojan Bogdanovic was 4 of 6 from 3-point range and Jordan Clarkson was 3 of 6 from beyond the arc and had nine assists. The Jazz were 23 of 40 from 3 through the first three quarters.
“Whether he’s making a read and taking a pull up or some of the times he’s got the ball late (in the) clock with his step back that he’s worked on. But some of those other shots that we’re talking about, whether it’s a pull up, at the rim, off the dribble or catch-and-shoot, I think he’s getting more and more comfortable taking what could be a good shot into a great shot.” —Jazz head coach Quin Snyder on Donovan Mitchell
- Rudy Gobert finished with four blocks in just 20 minutes and used every bit of his wingspan to wrangle an errant lob from Clarkson at one point.
- Listen, the Jazz starters and main guys did exactly what they were supposed to do against the Magic and made it look like it was the easiest thing in the world. Let’s get to some fun stuff.
“For us, the starting group, to go out there and just handle business from the jump and kind of stay aggressive I think was was huge.” — Donovan Mitchell
- Ingles sent up at least two lobs for Mitchell that if they had been just a little bit on target the roof would have blown off Vivint even with the limited number of fans in the building. That’s the kind of stuff you try when you’re leading by as many as 46 points.
- They Jazz were leading 92-46 with 8:03 left in the third quarter and the Jazz team Twitter account tweeted out “lol.” That’s it. That’s the tweet. That’s where this game was, and I agree. That was also the point that Quin Snyder started giving some of the seldom-used players some run. By the 5:22 mark in the third all of the starters were out of the game and wouldn’t return. I love watching the developing players get some real playing time so nearly an entire half was excellent, and we learned a lot.
“It’s just crazy being able to learn from guys that are basically the best players in the league. I mean, I can learn from Don, Mike, Joe, all those guys.” — Trent Forrest
- Trent Forrest and Miye Oni were the first to join the fray in the third with some of the rotational players, and Oni showed off so much of his athleticism throughout the rest of the game. He’s just an absolute hustle player. The aggressive hunting of offensive rebounds and tapouts, keeping his hands wide in transition and getting back. Oh, and he can dunk with a lot of force.
- Forrest was probably the most impressive of the deep bench players on Saturday, finishing with eight points, six assists and two steals. He showed off his defensive chops, going for blocks and getting back in transition at warp speed and he’s incredibly adept at running the pick and roll.
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“This guy is a stud.” — Donovan Mitchell on Trent Forrest
- Jarrell Brantley’s defensive stance on the perimeter is a thing of beauty. Coaches love that kind of stuff. When you never have to tell a guy to get down wide and low and he just automatically does it, it leaves the door open to teach other things and there’s a level of trust that will always be there.
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Low notes
- Royce O’Neale was the only main rotational player that had a bad shooting night, going 1 of 5 from long range. I guess that’s a low note.
- But when the entire Orlando Magic team goes 2 of 23 from 3, there’s not much else that seems low.
- It’s too bad that Juwan Morgan (left calf tightness), Elijah Hughes (non-COVID-19 illness) and Udoka Azubuike (severe right ankle sprain) couldn’t play on Saturday. It would have been great to see them out there.
Flat notes
- Oh boy. Poor Orlando.
- Orlando already came into the game with just eight players available and then lost Mo Bamba to a non-COVID-19 illness during the game. They also no longer have their All-Stars after trading away Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon so it’s just a rough squad. They’ve been playing some close games lately but you wouldn’t know that at all by the way things went on Saturday.
- I feel bad for Chuma Okeke and R.J. Hampton. It seemed like they spent more time sitting or laying on the hardwood than they did standing. Ankles were broken, shots were blocked, and humiliation was experienced.
- There was one point when Orlando had no one in the backcourt to receive an inbound pass and the Magic were forced to take a timeout. Woof.
- I could absolutely criticize the Magic’s shot selection and decision-making, but they’re probably going to do enough of that on their own and it’s not like a lot is expected of them externally.