SALT LAKE CITY – As expected, the Utah Jazz easily defeated Orlando Magic Saturday at Vivint Arena.
OK, maybe not exactly as expected.
Utah, led by 42 people in the first half, broke an NBA record of 18 3 in the first half, and Donovan Mitchell was out of the game until the first timeout of the third quarter.
There are explosions, then there are explosions.
The Jazz (38-11) shattered the Magic 137-91, for the ninth consecutive victory. Utah also extended its best home win streak to 22 franchises.
So how ugly were things on Saturday?
Let’s just say that the most memorable pieces were the ones that didn’t actually have points.
Just like when Rudy Gobert forged a 3-pointer at the top of the key, teasing the over 6,000 fans who made it very clear that they wanted the All-Star Center to put it into operation.
Or when Joe Ingles floated Mitchell on a high alley, when they were both still behind the 3-point line. Mitchell got to that, but he couldn’t control it enough to let him down.
Deja vu hit some goods later, when Ingles tried to find Mitchell again in a deep alley. This time, Mitchell hit the back of the box after the wrong throw. As he ran back, Mitchell seemed to ask the Englishman, “What was that?” while laughing at the play.
“This is one of those nights for us where we played really well, when we played the right way and played a team that is going through a transition,” said jazz coach Quin Snyder.
Magic was reduced to just eight players on Saturday and was already a team that had been subjected to several jokes after the trading deadline, when they abandoned their top talent to plan their future (our favorites: “Illusion” and “Earvin”) .
“We’re obviously trying to get out and play the same way we want to play every game, whoever we play,” said Ingles, who had 17 points starting with Mike Conley, who remained in the game due to management injury.
Orlando had also been competitive. Magic actually won two games in a row, heading to Salt Lake City – they just ran into the Utah saw.
“I had one of those nights shooting the ball,” Snyder said with an understatement.
Utah was 18-of-31 behind the arc in the first two quarters, setting a new NBA record for the 3s in the half. Mitchell was 6 out of 7 deep in the first half, Ingles was 4 out of 6, Jordan Clarkson was 3 out of 6, Georges Niang was 2 out of 3, Bojan Bogdanovic was 2 out of 4, even little used Miye Oni and drilled the only attempt in half
Just one of those nights equals an NBA record.
The Jazz would probably have set the record for the full game, but Snyder got his start just four minutes into the second half, after Utah took a 46-point lead. Utah was 26-of-55 for the game – three in the NBA.
Mitchell led Jazz 22 points to 8-of-11 in just 21 minutes; Bogdnaovic added 17 points, Clarkson had 15 points and nine assists and Gobert added 11 points, six rebounds and four blocks – but unfortunately there was no 3-point attempt.
In a season full of explosions, Saturday was the biggest jazz. The 46-point win was the fourth highest margin of victory in the team’s history, 2 points off the team’s record.
Ingles was now part of three of Jazz’s four biggest victories, but when asked about the biggest explosion he was part of, he only remembered the other side.
“I remember being hit by Dallas until I was 50,” Ingles said of the 2018 game against the Mavericks. “It was the other way around – it wasn’t fun; I didn’t want to be in the locker room after that game. Win wisely, Europe isn’t long enough to be really blown away – it’s 40 minutes and everyone goes with the ball up. “
So for now, Saturday will have to do.