Desmond Bane hits game winner to lift Magic past Jazz in overtime

Before the Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic tipped off on Saturday, Jazz head coach Will Hardy foreshadowed the Magic play that would be his team’s demise.

“They’ve got some terrific athletes, guys who can play downhill,” he said. “The biggest fear is that we can’t control the ball around the free throw line, that we can’t keep them from breaking the free throw line and getting into the paint...Desmond Bane is somebody that you fear from the 3-point line, but as a team, the Magic are way more based on the interior.”

With 4.1 seconds left in an overtime thriller that had the Delta Center crowd on its feet, Keyonte George pump-faked Anthony Black into the air, drew a foul and hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 126. He then hit the ensuing foul shot and gave the Jazz a one-point lead.

But after a timeout, Bane blew past Svi Mykhailiuk with the ball in his hands, got into the paint and scooped in the game-winning shot with 0.9 seconds left.

Orlando was able to put a tally mark in the win column, but the Jazz did a lot of things they should be proud of.

They rallied back from a 19-point deficit, they shared the ball incredibly well, they kept their turnovers low and made a ton of defensive plays that were impressive and slowly gained some control in the paint.

The only problem was that the majority of the smart plays came in the second half.

Of course, for a young team, a solid second-half performance when their star player (Lauri Markkanen) is watching in street clothes is part of the learning process. Extending the time the team is able to properly execute is the hope when it comes to continued development.

1 of 42

2 of 42

3 of 42

4 of 42

5 of 42

6 of 42

7 of 42

8 of 42

9 of 42

10 of 42

11 of 42

12 of 42

13 of 42

14 of 42

15 of 42

16 of 42

17 of 42

18 of 42

19 of 42

20 of 42

21 of 42

22 of 42

23 of 42

24 of 42

25 of 42

26 of 42

27 of 42

28 of 42

29 of 42

30 of 42

31 of 42

32 of 42

33 of 42

34 of 42

35 of 42

36 of 42

37 of 42

38 of 42

39 of 42

40 of 42

41 of 42

42 of 42

“I’m so proud of the team. That was a hell of a fight in the second half,” Hardy said. “We’re playing lineups that we haven’t planned for. The guys are finding ways to help each other. Their competitiveness, their togetherness, is outstanding.

“The biggest thing for us to learn from this game is that they score 34 paint points in the first half and 22 in the second half. That was a big priority for us coming into the game, and I think we made, as a team, a great adjustment with our mindset in the second half. We just need to continue to to fight for that focus to start the game.”

George finished the night with 27 points and nine assists in the loss, while Bane paced the Magic with 32 points.

The Jazz are now 10-17 on the season and will travel to Denver to face the Nuggets on Monday before returning to the Delta Center for their final pre-Christmas game on Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies.