By John DentonNov. 13, 2015
ORLANDO – Back playing his more natural small forward position because of injuries all over the Orlando Magic’s roster, Tobias Harris’ all-around skills were on display all of Friday night, especially on one dazzling play in particular.
First, Harris came off his man, burst out to the wing and intercepted a cross-court pass by Utah’s Gordon Hayward. After corralling the ball and keeping it from going out of bounds, Harris pushed it ahead, deftly split two defenders near midcourt and finished the play with a thunderous dunk on the other end.
That play was emblematic of Harris’ all-out effort in a game where he pumped in 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lift the Magic to a 102-93 defeat of the Utah Jazz.
The Magic (5-5) made 28 of 31 free throws and led from wire to wire against Utah (4-5), which lost heartbreakers in Cleveland and Miami earlier in the week. The Jazz didn’t go away easily, trimming a 23-point deficit to seven in the final minutes as Orlando coach Scott Skiles was forced to re-insert his starters for the final 2:52 of the game. Orlando led by 22 points early in the second quarter, squandered much of it and eventually pushed it back to as much as 23 points in the fourth period.
The Magic won a second game in a row for the second time this season, allowing them to get to .500 for the first time this season. To put that into perspective, Orlando didn’t get to five wins until the 12th game last season. Also, Orlando hasn’t been at .500 this late in the season since 2012.
The Magic attempted to rest center Nikola Vucevic (16 points and nine rebounds) all of the fourth quarter, but struggles by the second unit forced him back into the game with 2:52 to play. Harris and Evan Fournier, both of whom changed back to their natural positions, also had to come back into the game in the final three minutes after trimmed a 23-point deficit to single figures.
Fournier, whose home country of France came under terrorist attack on Friday, somehow kept his focus on the game and gave the Magic 21 points, five rebounds and two 3-pointers. Point guard Elfrid Payton added 12 points and five assists, while Aaron Gordon chipped in 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Hayward had 16 points for the Jazz, while Trey Burke scored 16 off the bench. Derrick Favors, who had a big game a night earlier in Miami, scored just five points. Orlando was without standout guard Victor Oladipo, who suffered a concussion early in Wednesday’s win against the Los Angeles Lakers. While chasing a loose ball, Oladipo hit his face and the side of his head on teammate Dewayne Dedmon’s shoulder. The blow knocked Oladipo woozy and out of the game. He did not attend Friday’s game and there is no firm timetable on his return to the Magic.
Utah was also playing shorthanded because of injuries to center Rudy Gobert (ankle sprain) and small forward Rodney Hood (sore knee). Gobert, a friend of Fournier’s since their teenage years while growing up in France, came into the night leading the NBA in blocked shots and serving as the anchor on the league’s best defense.
The Magic will be back in action on Saturday night when they face the Wizards in Washington, D.C. Washington rallied from an eight-point deficit to beat Orlando 88-87 in the season-opener. While the Magic will be playing a second game in as many nights, the Wizards have been off since Tuesday when they were thumped by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Magic led 52-40 at the half, but that came only after they squandered much of a 22-point lead from early in the second quarter. Orlando led 14-2 before the Jazz had their second field goal and it threatened to turn the game into a laugher when it sprung ahead 37-15 early in the second quarter.
However, the Jazz made a game of it behind guard Trey Burke, long a Magic killer with his accuracy off of pull-up jumpers. He had seven points to jumpstart a 13-2 run and Utah twice got within nine (41-32 and 49-38) before the Magic came alive again.
Orlando seemed to relax after getting such a big lead, reverting to some sloppy basketball. Nine of Orlando’s 14 turnovers in the first half came in the second quarter. Fournier, who had to be distracted by the terrorist activity back in his native France, played well early in the game. With Oladipo out, Fournier was back at his more natural shooting guard position and he posted 13 points, two rebounds and two assists in the first 24 minutes.
Unlike on Wednesday when the starters struggled most of the night, Orlando’s first five opened the game dialed in on Friday night. Whereas the starters scored just 36 points in Wednesday’s game they pumped in 27 points in the first quarter alone to help the Magic spring to a 20-point lead.
Utah was complicit in the lopsided nature of the game in the early going by missing its first four shots and eight of nine by the time the game was 14-2. Hayward (11 points) was the only Utah starter to make a shot in the first half.
