SALT LAKE CITY – As expected, Utah Jazz easily won Orlando Magic Saturday at Vivint Arena.
OK, maybe not quite as expected.
Utah led 42 in the first half, beat an NBA record of 18 3s in the first half and Donovan Mitchell was out of the game in the first half of the third quarter.
There are breaks, so there are explosions.
Jazz crushed the listless Magic 137-91 for their ninth consecutive victory. Utah also extended its winning streak at home as the best in the franchise to 22.
So, how did things get ugly on Saturday?
Let’s just say that the most memorable plays were those that ended up not resulting in points.
Like when Rudy Gobert faked a 3 point at the top of the brace, provoking the more than 6,000 fans who made it very clear that they wanted the All-Star center to put him.
Or when Joe Ingles floated in a high alley for Mitchell when they were both still behind the 3-point line. Mitchell caught it, but was unable to control it enough to drop it.
The déjà vu hit a few belongings later, when Ingles tried to find Mitchell again in a deep alley. This time, Mitchell ended up on his back off the field after the wrong move. As he ran back, Mitchell seemed to be asking Ingles: “What was that?” while they laughed at the play.
There was a lot of smiles and laughter for Jazz on Saturday.
They led by 18 after the first quarter (RJ Hampton from Orlando hit a horn at the end of the first – so Magic had at least) and by 42 with a few minutes remaining to the end of the first half.
Utah was 18 out of 31 behind the arc in the first two quarters, setting a new NBA record of 3s in half – a record that came from almost everyone. Mitchell had 6 out of 7 in the first half, Ingles had 4 out of 6, Jordan Clarkson had 3 out of 6, Georges Niang had 2 out of 3 and Bojan Bogdanovic had 2 out of 4.
It almost looked like the much more talented Jazz had one of the best shooting nights of the year against a Magic team that was playing with only eight players and had been the target of several jokes after the switchover deadline when they discarded their best talents to think about your future (our favorites: “The Illusion” and “Earvin”).
Jazz coach, Quin Snyder, showed some mercy, however. With Jazz at 46 with 8:03 remaining in the third quarter, Snyder pulled most of his starters for the rest of the game – something the Jazz coach has been reluctant to do, even with great advantages.
Mitchell finished with 22 points to lead Jazz, with Ingles and Bogdnaovic both finishing with 17.
This story will be updated.