The Utah Jazz closed out a three-game road trip on Sunday night with a second straight win after beating the Orlando Magic, 105-92, on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Brice Sensabaugh steps up for undermanned squad
After beating the host Miami Heat on Saturday, the Jazz went into Orlando with an extended injury report.
Lauri Markkanen was again managing back spasms, which have been an issue for the All-Star forward this season. Jordan Clarkson, who left Saturday’s game early after his plantar fasciitis flared up again, was also sidelined on Sunday as well as Keyonte George (left heel soreness) and John Collins, who missed the game due to personal reasons.
That was going to mean a lot of minutes for a lot of the Jazz’s younger players and those who don’t get into the rotation as much. The starting lineup was Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler, Micah Potter, Johnny Juzang and Isaiah Collier.
But, it was Brice Sensabaugh, for the second night in a row, that stepped up from the bench to lead the Jazz to victory. After scoring a career-best 34 points on Saturday, the Orlando native had a game-high 27 points on Sunday including going 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
“We talk a lot with our young players about this being an every night business and the best players are the best players because of their consistency,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “I’m not saying that I expect Brice to score over 25 points every game, but I thought it was a big step for him, his confidence, his belief in the work that he’s doing, to have this kind of game two nights in a row. Then there’s the human part — Brice is from Orlando — and so to come home on the second night of the back-to-back, after a massive game last night, I just feel happy for him.”
The Magic’s woes
The Orlando Magic have been a steadily rising and increasingly impressive team that seemed ready to cement themselves as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. But as this season has progressed, their best players have been hit with injuries that have put some question marks on this season.
First it was Paulo Banchero who suffered a torn oblique, then Franz Wagner, the team’s second leading scorer, who had stepped up in a huge way after Banchero went out, suffered the same injury. The Magic also lost Moe Wagner to a season-ending torn ACL and then this week watched as Jalen Suggs was taken off the court in a wheelchair after a scary, non-contact back injury.
Frankly, it’s impressive that the Magic have managed to stay in the playoff race in the East despite all of the injuries, but it’s really not that shocking that they would have some games like the one they had against the Jazz on Sunday.
All that being said, there does seem to be some good news around the corner for the Magic. Banchero is currently ramping up his activity and contact levels as part of a return to play program and the Magic believe they can get Wagner back from the same injury sometime next month. And although the scene was scary when Suggs went down, it sounds like Suggs experienced a back spasm while in motion but has not suffered any sort of traumatic injury.
Jazz playing well ... maybe too well?
The Jazz improved to 9-25 on the season with their win over the Magic. That’s obviously not an incredible record, it’s the fifth worst record in the league, but that’s not what the Jazz brass is hoping for. If they want the best possible odds at a top pick, they need to have one of the three worst records.
The three worst records, when there aren’t any tiebreaker scenarios, are given a 14% chance to win the No. 1 draft pick when they are awarded a higher number of possible numeric combinations to be drawn during the lottery. The fourth worst record has a 12.5% chance at the No. 1 overall pick and the fifth worst record has a 10.5% chance.
The Jazz aren’t gunning for fifth. So, if they want to compete with the likes of the Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans for the top pick, they’re going to have to slow things down a little bit. Maybe start getting even more cautious with injuries, maybe make some changes at the trade deadline.
It’s great to see growth from the young players on this team, which is also something the Jazz decision makers want. But, it’s about finding the perfect balance between development and losing.