The Home Team took on the Golden State Warriors' challenge and turned down the Utah Jazz, who lost 10 consecutive games, and completed a 26-point victory to meet the Challenge of the Orlando Magic again. As a team that has maintained a good immediate combat strength this season, the future of the Jazz is still relatively clear. Even though starting center Gobert has not been able to return to the field at this stage due to a calf injury, Mitchell can also pull the team forward and get a wave of 4 consecutive wins. So what kind of situation should the home team accept the challenge of the Magic team end?
At the beginning of the game, the Jazz took advantage of the fact that the magic side of the players were not yet in the state stage, and achieved a big lead. That's right, in the first quarter, the Magic only scored 12 points in a single quarter, and Mitchell on the Jazz side sent 11 points and 3 rebounds to help the team play 28-12 and get a 16-point lead. The opening game gave the opponent a big kick, and the Jazz seemed inevitable to win the game. However, after entering the second quarter of the showdown, the Magic team, which was in a state of backwardness, also launched a strong counterattack.
As the saying goes, feng shui takes turns. The Magic were in poor shape in the first quarter, while the Jazz were also in a scoring drought in the second quarter. At the same time, the Magic naturally seized the opportunity, shooting 100% of Cole Anthony's 2-of-2 shooting, delivering 7 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, and substitute Terrance Rose also had a 6+2+1 data contribution to play a 27-16 single-quarter score, recovering the 11 points behind in the first quarter. At the end of the first half of the game, the gap between the two sides was narrowed to 5 points, and the Magic still had the possibility of achieving a reversal.
Easy to fight again, the Magic team that has achieved good results in chasing points can still follow the trend and continue to achieve points chasing. In the third quarter of the competition, Wendell Carter stepped forward, shooting 5 of 7 in a single quarter, delivering 11 points and 1 rebound, and starting center Bamba also contributed 9 points and 5 rebounds, helping the team to play a 35-33 score and once again recover the 2 points behind in the first half. By the time we reached the crucial final quarter showdown, the point difference between the two sides had narrowed to 3 points, and the suspense of the game was getting bigger and bigger. But unfortunately, the Jazz, who entered the regular showdown in the fourth quarter, did not give the Magic a chance to continue to chase points.
In the regular showdown in the fourth quarter, the Jazz beat a 37-25 score and completed a 15-point victory with a score of 114-99. Looking back on the game, even though the Magic are in the rebuilding phase, they have a very high desire to win. Cole Anthony sent 18+6+5 in a single quarter, Wendell Carter also had 22 points and 9 rebounds, and Bamba, who delivered 16 points and 8 rebounds. However, compared to the performance of the jazz players, they are still inferior. That's right, Mitchell scored a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds.
Not only that, but Clarkson, who played the best sixth man on the team, also contributed 18 points and 4 rebounds. While starting centre-forward Gobert was sidelined due to injury, substitute centre-forward Whiteside once again proved his worth. With an annual salary of $2.4 million in the team, he played 27 minutes off the bench for the game, with an efficient output of 7 of 9, delivering a luxurious double-double of 15 points and 18 rebounds, and helping the team to win the crucial 17 points. In fact, not only in this game, but in the last game, he also handed over a luxurious stat of 17 rebounds and 7 blocks at one point, helping the team make a huge contribution on the inside defensive end. Perhaps, Whiteside is just one chance away from proving himself again.