The Utah Jazz faced their second straight game without Lauri Markkanen on Saturday night, and predictably, things weren't easy for them against the Orlando Magic. While the Jazz did push the game to overtime, thanks to a spectacular four-point play by Keyonte George, they ultimately fell 128-127 to the Magic, disappointing a raucous home crowd.
And the issues that cost the Jazz the game (besides some questionable officiating in overtime) were correctable, and have surfaced time and again during the 2025-26 NBA season. Will Hardy, for all his abilities as a teacher of young players, needs to get some lessons into the heads of his team if they are to keep things from going off the rails in the weeks ahead.
1. Don't allow open threes, close out on shooters once in a while
The Jazz gave up 37 three-point attempts by the Magic, which could have been disastrous if they had made more of them (30% on the night). Several of the ones they did make were back-breaking ones where they were WIDE open, which is inexcusable in the modern NBA.
Jusuf Nurkic, Kyle Filipowski, and Kevin Love repeatedly refused to offer even token resistance or leave the paint to close out on such attempts, which hurt the Jazz's efforts on the night.
But it wasn't all on them - Keyonte George and Isaiah Coller gave up a lot on the perimeter as well. If the Jazz want to keep teams from high scoring nights, it starts with better closeouts on perimeter attempts, and less double-teaming in the paint.
2. Understand Defensive Switches and counter them to avoid mismatches
Too many times on the night, Keyonte George found himself overmatched against a bigger opponent because he failed to counter and switch when the Magic pulled him off his man. Most often, Paolo Banchero was the beneficiary, and he capitalized by taking Key into the paint for an easy bucket.
On a night that Jalen Suggs was out, the Magic went with a mix of Anthony Black, Jase Richardson, and Tyus Jones handling the ball, and they had little trouble rubbing the Jazz guards off screens and getting to the paint or baseline when they needed to. These three combined for 35 points and 10 assists, with only 2 turnovers.
The Jazz bigs also struggled here, as Jusuf Nurkic got caught with his back to the basketball far too often and gave up easy points and defensive rebounds as a result.
3. Ace Bailey's struggles may lead to future success
Ace didn't have an outstanding game (14 points, 4 boards, 3 assists) but he played solid defense on Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane late, and got hands on a number of passes and was disruptive when needed.
He had a breakaway dunk attempt that went off the iron, and a few paint forays that ended unsuccessfully, mainly because he didn't realize the angle needed to get to the hoop, or take advantage of a mismatch with a smaller or slower defender.
Ace flashed some big talent with two massive threes, and several other attempts were close, but no cigar. He will work on those and get better, knowing they were makeable shots. Much like a young Kobe Bryant, who once airballed multiple late-game shots in the Delta Center, Ace will learn from the ones that got away tonight.
4. Trusting Each Other
At times in the third quarter, the Jazz weren't looking to each other or communicating on the court, and it showed as Orlando opened a 17 point lead. The youngsters, especially Cody Williams, looked lost and bewildered in this stretch.
When the games get hard and the other team is gaining the advantage, you have to trust your teammates and pull together. Orlando huddled up after a foul call multiple times, and Banchero pulled them together, which is what leaers do. The Jazz need to learn from this and trust each other to find ways out of the tough battles.
At 10-17, the Jazz have a tough week ahead, with a quick trip to Denver on Monday, then home against Memphis on Tuesday, and Detroit in town on Friday, before they go on the road for an outing against San Antonio on Saturday night. They need to figure a few things out in a short amount of time, or the losses will continue to mount.