Jazz 87, Magic 81: Al Jefferson scored a game-high 31 points and pulled down 15 rebounds before exiting late in the fourth quarter with back spasms as host Utah halted its three-game losing streak.
Paul Millsap contributed 22 points and Jefferson scored 17 of the 23 third-quarter points by the Jazz, who have won four straight meetings with the Magic. Jefferson went down while grabbing a rebound with 1:29 remaining in the contest and was in obvious pain as he was helped to the locker room.
Glen Davis recorded 18 points and 12 rebounds, Jameer Nelson added 17 points and Arron Afflalo chipped in 16 for Orlando, which is 2-1 on its five-game road trip.
Utah owned a nine-point lead after one quarter and increased it to a game-high 14 in the second as Marvin Williams' layup with 2:19 remaining made it 45-31. Down by 11 midway through the third, Orlando went on an 8-0 run to get within 56-53 with 4:20 left, but the Jazz ended the period with a 10-2 burst to push the advantage back to double digits.
The Magic erased the deficit and took a 79-78 lead with 3:33 to play in the fourth thanks to a 12-2 run. But Randy Foye hit a 3-pointer just 22 seconds later and Jefferson added a pair of jumpers as Utah held on to improve to 7-1 at home.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Magic C Nikola Vukovic scored only six points but grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. ... Neither team attempted many 3-pointers, but both were awful when they did. Orlando was a dismal 1-of-15 from beyond the arc and Utah was just 1-of-10. ... Afflalo scored eight of the Magic's 15 points in the first quarter while Millsap poured in 11 of Utah's 21 points in the second.
Orlando | Utah | |
Glen Davis 18 | Scoring | Al Jefferson 31 |
Jameer Nelson 5 | Assists | Mo Williams 7 |
Nikola Vucevic 16 | Rebounds | Al Jefferson 15 |
Glen Davis 4 | Free Throws Made | Paul Millsap 6 |
Jameer Nelson 2 | Steals | Mo Williams 4 |
Glen Davis 2 | Blocks | Paul Millsap 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Orlando | 81 | 44.2 | 1-15 | 12-17 | 15 | 46 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
Utah | 87 | 41.6 | 1-10 | 22-27 | 17 | 38 | 4 | 13 | 13 |