ORLANDO, Fla. — Evan Fournier scored 21 points and the Orlando Magic raced out to a big early lead to defeat the Utah Jazz 102-93 on Friday night.
Tobias Harris added 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Magic, who won for the fifth time in their last seven games.
The Magic jumped out to a 16-2 lead in the first four minutes while the Jazz missed eight of their first nine shots and turned the ball over four times.
They stretched their advantage to 22 points early in the second quarter and were up by as many as 23 in the fourth before the Jazz got within seven points in the closing minutes.
Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke each scored 16 points for the Jazz. Hayward was their only starter to make a field goal in the first half.
Despite being without Victor Oladipo, the Magic started strong against a team playing the second game of a road back-to-back. Fournier had 13 of his points by halftime.
Harris’ 3-point field goal with 7:25 remaining extended the Magic’s lead to 94-71 and prompted coach Scott Skiles to clear his bench. But the Jazz went on an 11-2 run, primarily with their reserves. An irate Skiles brought Fournier, Harris, Nik Vucevic and Elfrid Payton back in with 2:52 to go.
The Jazz made it a 97-90 game on a 3-pointer by Joe Ingles with 1:10 remaining before three free throws by Payton and a jump shot by Vucevic gave the Magic more breathing room.
The Magic finished 28-of-31 from the line to help offset 22 turnovers and a 12-of-32 shooting performance inside the paint.
TIP-INS:
Magic: Skiles said before the game he hadn’t spoken to Oladipo since the third-year guard was diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Fournier, who opened at small forward in their first eight games, was moved to Oladipo’s customary starting spot. … Will honour Hedo Turkoglu, who announced his retirement Friday, during a ceremony at their Dec. 18 home game against Portland. Turkoglu played 497 regular-season games with the Magic over eight seasons and helped them reach the NBA Finals in 2009.
Jazz: Played without two of their usual starters in centre Rudy Gobert (sprained left ankle) and guard Rodney Hood (right foot soreness). … While they entered ranked first in fewest points allowed per game (90.0), they gave up 118 points Tuesday night at Cleveland and 92 Thursday night at Miami, with both opponents shooting at or close to 50 per cent from the floor.
