A few thoughts on the Utah Jazz losing to the Orlando Magic

After a close loss to the Magic, the Utah Jazz are left with more questions than answers.

The Utah Jazz had every expectation for a win against the Orlando Magic. They were coming off a blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies the night before and didn’t have to travel. And with a road trip coming up, this was the perfect opportunity to get their first winning streak of the season and go into the trip on the right foot.

While the Jazz were competitive and even led this game for significant portions, they came up short in the end on a mistimed inbounds pass from Kelly Olynyk to Keyonte George in the final seconds as Orlando prevailed, 115-113.

A few thoughts:

Jordan Clarkson is shooting 40% from the field and averaging 13.8 points on the season. Take away his games against Memphis and Sacramento, and he’s shooting under 31% from the floor. He has also had 3 games with 5 turnovers or more, and most of it has been against average point guards – Jamal Murray and Aaron Fox were the only elite point guards he faced in the first 6 games.

John Collins just had his best game in a Jazz uniform – 20 points, 10 boards, and a blocked shot, while shooting 70/70/75 splits. The Jazz need to keep him involved at this level moving forward if they want to have a chance at winning some ball games.

Paolo Banchero is a GOOD player, borderline All-Star caliber. What he is not is a superstar, but he sure looked like one tonight, to the tune of 30 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks for Orlando.

Talen Horton-Tucker had a good game – 15 points, 8 assists and  3 steals. However, he still is miscast as a starting two-guard, it seems like he falls down 2 to 3 times a game for no reason at all. He might be more effective as a small ball 3 in a reserve role.

Cole Anthony, the Magic’s reserve point guard, lit up the Jazz for 18 points, 7 boards, 7 assists, and 2 steals in his best all-around game this year.

Omer Yurtseven’s 8 minutes were great – 7 points, 3 rebounds, and a 3-pointer made.

Walker Kessler did well in rebounding (10) and blocks (5) but being on the bench during crunch time spoke volumes about his season thus far. He would have done well defensively in the closing minutes and altered some Orlando shot attempts.

Keyonte George is showing the potential for a nice pairing with Lauri Markkanen, the Jazz need to explore this more (i.e. give Keyonte more minutes).

Luka Samanic would have been useful in tonight’s game, with both John Collins and Kelly Olynyk in foul trouble, but he never got off the bench.

Former Jazzman Joe Ingles walked by with a quirky greeting to Jordan Clarkson at the free throw line, trying to throw JC’s rhythm off. Always fun to see Joe and his antics when he returns to Utah to face the Jazz.

There is a lot for the Utah Jazz to keep working on, and they let a winnable game get away from them tonight. Let’s hope they are ready to handle the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.