Game thread: Utah Jazz will face true challenge in Orlando

The Utah Jazz will put their four-game win streak on the line as they face a tough opponent in the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

After a turbulent start to the season, the Utah Jazz have looked significantly more solid of late. They’ve won four straight games and nine of their last 10, with their only loss in that stretch coming in a very close contest against an elite Miami Heat team on the road.

Even so, they still aren’t in a position where they can relax or get complacent. After all, even with their recent hot streak, the Jazz still haven’t budged from the sixth-place spot in the West. Not only that, but they’re in the midst of a three-game road trip and will be going up against a dangerous Orlando Magic squad on Saturday night.

The Jazz nearly discovered first-hand how dangerous the Magic can be in the two teams’ last meeting in Salt Lake City just over two weeks ago. Utah took a dominant lead early in the contest, but the Magic fought back to take the lead and nearly upset the Jazz with a huge fourth quarter push.

That game will almost certainly have provided Orlando with some confidence in their ability to match up against the Jazz, so Utah will have to avoid being caught unaware. The Magic are also coming off an extremely impressive win over the Miami Heat wherein Orlando won 105-85 and gave up just six points in the fourth quarter, two of which came in the waning seconds of garbage time with no one defending.

In other words, Orlando’s defense essentially gave up only four points in a quarter to a Heat team that has been a force to be reckoned with all year long. Steve Clifford is known as a savvy defensive coach while the Jazz are known for undergoing fatal offensive droughts during games. Therefore, it will be crucial that their offense fire on all cylinders so they aren’t smothered by a gritty Magic squad.

The Jazz’s schedule will toughen up significantly in late January, so it’s important that they take care of these winnable games now and dig deep to find a way to topple a dangerous Orlando Magic team.

Game Data

Broadcast Info

Tip-off: 5:00 PM MT on January 4, 2020 from the Amway Center in Orlando, FL
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM & 1280 AM Salt Lake City)

Projected Starting Lineups

Injuries

The Utah Jazz remain without Mike Conley as he deals with his ongoing hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic dodged a bullet upon learning that defensive ace Jonathan Isaac had suffered no ligament damage after he fell victim to an apparently serious knee injury. Still, he has a significant knee sprain and bone contusion and will be reevaluated in two months. Michael Carter-Williams is also out with a shoulder injury and Al-Farouq Aminu is out with a knee injury.

Prediction

This is set to be a tight one for the Jazz, although they do have two things going for them. First, Orlando is playing on the second night of a back-to-back, though they won in blowout fashion in their previous game against Miami so they might be decently well-rested all things considered. Secondly, the Magic are dealing with some significant injuries and the loss of Isaac is sure to hurt them.

Even with all that being the case, I could truly see this one going either way. The Action Network has the Jazz as 3.5-point favorites which further shows how evenly matched this game is projected to be. I could see that being accurate, but since I tend to jinx the Jazz when I pick them to win in toss-up games, I’m going to go with Orlando in a tight one by the score of 105-102.

Discussion

#UTAatORL is the Twitter hashtag for the game and our live comment thread below will be up and rolling throughout the game as well. Go Jazz!