Desmond Bane ended the game the way he began: Driving into the paint against a hapless Jazz defense and scoring. The sixth-year guard finished with 32 points on 13 shots, including the game-winner.
The game started with indications that trends from the previous game would continue, namely a red-hot offense and Swiss cheese defense. The Jazz effort, still lacking all-star Lauri Markkanen, was headlined by budding star Keyonte George, who finished the quarter with 7 points.
The Magic matched the Jazz nearly stride for stride, and the score was 38-36 in favor of the Jazz at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter provided more of the same, with Desmond Bane catching fire and pouring in 18 of his 32 points, mainly coming from his hot shooting from beyond the arc. The Jazz offense was still driven by Keyonte George, but Brice Sensabaugh and Kevin Love also provided a spark.
The third quarter was where it felt like the wheels might be falling off for the Jazz. The Magic opened the frame up 65-60 and outscored the Jazz 32-22 by the end. Anthony Black led all scorers in the quarter, and the Jazz were kept alive thanks to Kevin Love and Svi Mykhailiuk, who combined for 9 points. Ace Bailey continued to prove that he’s a solid NBA player by hitting tough (but reasonable) jumpers and this nasty dunk:
The fourth quarter is where many fans assumed the Jazz would mail it in and get blown out, but they hung tough and flipped the script, outscoring New York 36-21. Keyonte George remained a force and willed the Jazz back into the game. It looked like it might have been over when a Desmond Bane free throw put the Magic up 111-103 with a little under 4 minutes remaining, but Ace Bailey and Isaiah Collier cut the lead to 3 in under a minute. The Magic kept grinding, though, and they went up 118-114 with one minute left. The Jazz answered by getting both the stops and the buckets they needed to close out the period and force overtime on an Isaiah Collier drive. (Through lots of contact)
OT was a back-and-forth affair, with the Magic going up 126-123 with 14.1 seconds remaining. Then Keyonte George did his best Jordan Clarkson impression, putting the Jazz up 1 on a 4-point play with 4.1 ticks to go. Victory seemed imminent for the Jazz, but the Delta Center faithful (well, the non-tanking proponents, anyway) had their hearts broken by Desmond Bane, who drove through Svi and Kevin Love for the game winning layup.
Keyonte George led all scorers for the Jazz, scoring 27 points on 22 shots. Kevin Love posted a double-double with 16 points and 16 boards, and Ace Bailey scored 14 points on 6-14 shooting, along with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Isaiah Collier had one of his best games this season, finishing with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists in 28 minutes off the bench.
This loss drops the Jazz to 10-17, 1.5 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the tenth and final play-in berth. And, depending on how you choose to view it, boosts them into a tie with Dallas for 8th-worst record in he league and 1.5 games behind Charlotte for 7th-worst. They will take a day off before traveling to Denver on the 22nd and bouncing right back to Salt Lake City for a pair of home games, one against the Memphis Grizzlies on the 23rd and the other against the Detroit Pistons on the 26th.
