Jazz Turn In Season Best Defensive Effort In Win Over Magic
Jan 5, 2025, 7:50 PM | Updated: Jan 6, 2025, 2:39 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz stifled the Orlando Magic 105-92 in a battle of severely shorthanded teams.
The Jazz were playing without Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Keyonte George, and Jordan Clarkson, while the Magic were without Paolo Banchero, Franz and Mo Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and Anthony Black.
Brice Sensabaugh’s 27 points led the Jazz for the second straight night, while the Magic’s 92 points were the fewest by a Jazz opponent this season.
Game Blog: Jazz Snuff Out Magic In Orlando
In Season About Youth Development, Sensabaugh Must Play More
The Jazz front office made it abundantly clear before the season started that developing the youth on the roster was a key priority for the team.
If that’s the case, the Jazz can’t revert to playing Sensabaugh fewer than 20 minutes per game when the roster is healthy.
The second-year guard has gotten added playing time over the last two nights, and as he’s done all season, he’s flourished in extended minutes.
When playing 20 minutes or more, Sensabaugh is averaging 16.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 51 percent from the floor including 51 percent from three.
More impressively, Sensabaugh is averaging 7.2 three-point attempts in games when he sees the court for 20 minutes or more, despite never breaking the 30-minute mark.
When playing 20 minutes or more (8 appearances), Brice Sensabaugh is averaging 16.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 51 percent from the floor and 51 percent from three on 7.3 attempts.
He hasn’t played more than 28 minutes in any game this season.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 6, 2025
“Early in this year, he wasn’t getting a ton of opportunity,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said about Sensabaugh. “But, he stayed focused and poised, and he’s definitely earning minutes.”
Between Keyonte George, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, Johnny Juzang, Cody Williams, and Isaiah Collier, Hardy has worked diligently to give the Jazz’s deep rotation of guards and wings adequate playing time early in the season.
But with Sensabaugh’s obvious development, he can’t continue to average the fewest minutes of the group.
What To Make Of Jazz Wins Over Heat, Magic
It’s fair to say that the Jazz did not expect to pick up back-to-back wins in Miami and Orlando, two Eastern Conference playoff teams when looking at their schedule this year.
After all, while the Jazz are certainly working to develop their youth, they’d gladly welcome another high-end lottery pick, preferably top three, in this year’s draft.
Now sitting at 9-25 on the season, that became slightly more complicated with the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Toronto Raptors all having worse records more than a third of the way into the season.
While winning games as a result of young players like Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski (12 points, seven assists) is a positive, it may not outweigh the diminishing odds in May’s NBA draft lottery.
Safe to say the Jazz winning back-to-back games in Miami and Orlando would come as a major surprise at this point in the season.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 6, 2025
If the Jazz hope to finish with one of the worst records in the NBA this season, they’ll have to make up for these two victories over playoff-bound teams with losses to lesser opponents.
The Jazz will return home this week where they’ll host the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat before traveling to face the struggling Phoenix Suns on Saturday.
They then return to host the Brooklyn Nets and the Hornets, before back-to-back road games against the Pelicans.
With their recent improved play, all seven games should be considered winnable, but even a 4-3, or 3-4 split will almost certainly cost the Jazz lottery balls at the season’s end.
Hoping to find yourself at the bottom of the standings is a difficult business, and it requires uncomfortable sacrifices from the team to get there.
But after winning consecutive games in Miami and Orlando, the Jazz will have to reach a new low in the coming weeks, or risk seriously altering their lottery odds.
Utah Jazz Next Broadcast
The Jazz will host the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on KJZZ, streamed on Jazz+, and heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone.
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
