The Magic look to hit the right note on Game Day 11 as they take on the Utah Jazz. Orlando are seeking a season‘s first home court win having lost all four previous games in the opening weeks.
The tip time is shown on the Orlando Magic website as being 11:00pm here in the UK (6:00pm Eastern for our friends in Orlando).
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The Matchup For Game Day 11 As The Magic Look To Hit The Right Note
Last Games
Last time out the home court woes continued. Orlando took a loss to the San Antonio Spurs, falling by 102-89 in the Amway Center. Turnovers, an inability to score consistently and failing to get stops when they had made a run saw the Magic drop a winnable game.
A poor shooting 36 point first half by the Magic saw them down by 13 points at the half. Orlando twice closed to a 7 point deficit in the final quarter but could not get the needed stops defensively.
Cole Anthony led all scorers with 21 points, adding 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Wendell Carter Jr secured another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds (his third in the last three games). With 12 points Jalen Suggs has scored double figures in all but one of his 10 NBA games. Mo Bamba made another two 3-pointers as his improved shooting from distance continues. R.J. Hampton made all three of his attempts from beyond the arc on his way to 11 points. Chuma Okeke continued his return, still being limited to a shade under 20 minutes of play.
Utah played last night in Miami, seeing the Jazz lose to the Heat by 115-118. Going into the final quarter 9 points adrift the Jazz saw Miami’s lead grow to 19 points with under 6 minutes remaining. In the final 5 minutes 40 seconds of the game Utah got hot and put up 24 points. With 11 seconds to go the Miami lead was down to one point after a Rudy Gobert jam. Off the inbounds Utah immediately fouled, seeing Jimmy Butler hit what turned out to be two game winning free throws. A Donovan Mitchell three at the death missed badly and Kyle Lowry secured the rebound to see out the win.
Records For The Season
Orlando sit 14th in the Eastern Conference, with a losing 2-8 record. Detroit are below us having played a game less at 1-8. The Utah Jazz are now 2nd in the West, having a 7-2 winning record. They sit behind the Golden State Warriors who hold a 7-1 winning start.
Orlando now score an average of just 99.9 points per game. The points conceded reduced also to an average of 108.6 points per game. The Magic rank in the bottom five for NBA teams in offence, defence, pace, assists, steals, turnovers, two-pointers made, two-pointers attempted and our over all field goal percentage. Ranking badly in opposition offensive rebounding is also seeing second chance points remain something for Orlando to reduce.
Utah play with a measured pace, happy to use the clock or go fast. They score an average of 113 points per game, whilst conceding only 102.1. Finding a weakness is difficult as they rate highly or at least well in most stats, except assists which is the lowest in the league.
Head-To-Head – The Utah Jazz
History is not with Orlando in the all-time head-to-head, seeing Utah leading 41-23 in the 64 regular season games played.
Recent history is also with Utah who have won the last 5 straight and 9 of the last 10. Orlando have not won a season series since the 2015-16 season.
There have been no meetings in the playoffs.
Our Opponents – The Utah Jazz
Utah Head Coach Quin Snyder is now in his 8th season at the helm. He has an over all winning record, though success in the playoffs still eludes him.
Against Miami the starting unit last night was Mike Conley (PG), Donovan Mitchell (SG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SF), Royce O’Neale (PF) and Rudy Gobert (C).
Joe Ingles, Jordan Clarkson, Hassan Whiteside and Eric Paschall all impact from the bench.
As I write the Jazz are listed on ESPN as having two injury concerns, though their injury report has not been submitted so will be subject to update. Rudy Gay (SF) is out through a heel injury. The other sees Elijah Hughes as day-to-day. Though not listed there is a question as to whether some players, particularly Donovan Mitchell could be rested or see shortened minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. Mitchell has been out with an ankle injury recently.
The Orlando Magic Injury Report
At the time of writing ESPN shows Orlando as having increased issues and absences.
Cole Anthony is the most significant new concern. He is questionable for tonight having a left ankle sprain.
Ignas Brazdeikis is also questionable also with a left ankle sprain.
E’Twaun Moore remains out, diagnosed with a left sprained knee.
Michael Carter-Williams is out after undergoing surgery to remove a bone fragment and repair his left ankle ligament.
Jonathan Isaac continues to be out as he rehabilitates from a left knee ACL injury that saw him miss all of last season.
Markelle Fultz is still out after last season’s left knee ACL tear and subsequent surgery.
The Orlando Lineup As The Magic Look To Hit The Right Note
Coach Mosely has been seeing nice continuity with the starting 5 but as already highlighted that could change tonight. In all 10 opening games the team has been Jalen Suggs (PG), Cole Anthony (SG), Franz Wagner (SF), Wendell Carter Jr (PF) and Mo Bamba (C) start.
Chuma Okeke, Terrence Ross, Gary Harris and RJ Hampton all came from the bench.
Robin Lopez, Moe Wagner, Mychal Mulder and Ignas Brazdeikis were all available but did not feature.
Injury could see Coach Mosely forced into a change to both the starters and his bench rotations.
Check Out Other Orlando Magic U.K. Content
On each game day make sure to check Twitter and Facebook to play along with our Magic Moments competition. Simply comment with your prediction for each of five questions we will ask on that night’s game. At the end of the season we will send out a prize to whoever tops the league with the most correct predictions.
Be sure to subscribe to Orlando Magic U.K. YouTube channel for episodes of our podcast Penny For Your Thoughts.
Final Thoughts As The Magic Look To Hit The Right Note
Again there can be no pretence that this game against Utah is a big ask for Orlando. The contrast in form, the difference in scoring efficiency, second chance points conceded and prevalence of unforced errors do not favour Orlando.
Orlando will have a battle across all areas of the court. Reigning Defensive Player Of The Year, Rudy Gobert is leading the league in numerous categories. Gobert, who took his third DPOTY accolade in May tops the stats for rebounds per game, total rebounds, defensive rebounds, field goal percentage and two-point field goal percentage. He is top 10 in many other categories including blocks. Donovan Mitchell is in amongst the league leaders for multiple scoring categories, Joe Ingles has an excellent 3-point percentage and Royce O’Neale is a league leader for steals. Clarkson is the reigning Sixth Man Of The Year and has started the season in blistering form.
If Utah do not take the challenge of playing Orlando seriously the second night of the back-to-back could easily end in a first home court win of the season for the Magic.
Let’s Go Magic!
