Franz Wagner Matches Career High With 38 as Magic Beat Jazz 123-108 for Second Straight Win

Franz Wagner matched his career high with 38 points, and the Orlando Magic used an 18-3 fourth-quarter run to beat the Utah Jazz 123-108 on Wednesday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The win was Orlando's second in a row, following Tuesday's 107-100 victory at Sacramento that snapped a four-game losing streak, and it lifted the Magic to 4-7.

Desmond Bane scored 25 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter, and Anthony Black added 22 points and eight assists as the shorthanded Magic finished a four-game Western road trip at 2-2. Utah, playing without three injured regulars, fell to 1-11 with its 10th straight loss.

How the Magic pulled away

The game had 19 lead changes, and Utah's largest lead was six points, according to ESPN's box score. Utah led 87-85 after the Jazz won the third quarter 28-19, and Brice Sensabaugh's 3-pointer with 8:01 left put the Jazz up 96-95.

Orlando answered with an 18-3 surge over the next four-plus minutes. Jevon Carter hit a 3-pointer, Wagner scored on a drive, Bane hit a 3, and Wagner followed with a 29-foot 3-pointer off a feed from Black for a 106-98 lead. Wagner made two free throws, assisted on another Bane 3-pointer and Black made two free throws to make it 113-99 with 3:39 to play. Utah got no closer than 12 the rest of the way.

Wagner scored 12 of his 38 in the final quarter. Bane, who made a game-winning shot the last time the Magic played in Utah, according to the team's website, was 7-of-11 from 3-point range. Bane credited the group's resilience and poise and said Carter "came in and gave us a spark, made some big shots."

Wagner's hot streak

Wagner shot 13-of-23 from the field, 3-of-8 from 3-point range and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, with eight rebounds in 39 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. It was his third straight game with at least 30 points, a run he last put together in December 2024, and the third 38-point game of his career, after Dec. 28, 2021, against Milwaukee and Feb. 4, 2024, against Detroit, according to the Magic. He scored 30 in the overtime loss at Golden State and a season-high 33 in Tuesday's win at Sacramento.

"I think it was the way they were defending the pick-and-roll. We got into the paint a bunch of times," Wagner said, according to the team's recap.

The box score backs that up. Orlando outscored Utah 40-28 in the paint and 14-3 in fast-break points, shot 47 percent from the field and made 18 of 46 3-pointers. The Magic outrebounded the Jazz 45-38 and committed 13 turnovers to Utah's 11. The Jazz kept pace for three quarters at the free-throw line, making 28 of 34 attempts to Orlando's 23 of 28, as the Magic were whistled for 28 fouls.

Leading scorers, from ESPN's box score:

The bench and the first half

Sweeney started Wagner, Bane, Black, Wendell Carter Jr. and Alex Morales, with Nikola Vucevic, Bitadze, Jevon Carter and Jase Richardson coming off the bench. Carter was a plus-24 in 28 minutes off the bench, the best mark on either team, and assisted on Black's and Bane's 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter. Goga Bitadze added seven rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes, and Wendell Carter Jr. had nine points and seven rebounds.

Utah led 34-29 after one quarter and pushed ahead 40-34 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Sensabaugh and Keyonte George. The Jazz leaned heavily on perimeter shots early, according to the Associated Press, and Orlando took advantage, winning the second quarter 37-25 behind 13 points from Wagner to lead 66-59 at halftime. The Jazz scored on six of their first seven possessions of the second half and went ahead 74-71 on a Jaxson Hayes three-point play.

Darryn Peterson, the Jazz's rookie guard, led Utah with 22 points but shot 7-of-19. Ace Bailey had 18 points and a season-high four blocks. The Jazz have not held an opponent under 110 points this season, according to the AP.

A depleted Orlando roster

The Magic won without six players. Paolo Banchero (right ankle sprain), Jalen Suggs (knee), Jonathan Isaac (knee), Tristan da Silva (calf), Jamal Cain (shoulder) and Noah Penda (hamstring) were all out, according to the team. ESPN's injury report lists Banchero, who has been out since late October, with a projected return around Nov. 22, and Suggs and Isaac around Nov. 16; those dates are estimates, not team announcements.

Utah was without Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee), Lauri Markkanen (hand) and Jusuf Nurkic (foot).

Coach Sean Sweeney pointed to ball security after the game, saying the Magic had again done a good job taking care of the ball; Orlando committed 13 turnovers. He also cited his team's work on the offensive glass.

Where the Magic stand

Orlando's four wins have all come on the road; the Magic are 4-3 away from home and 0-4 at Kia Center, where they lost to Atlanta, Minnesota, Boston and Washington to open the season. The road trip began with a 117-104 loss at Phoenix, in which the Suns turned 25 Orlando turnovers into points, and a 126-119 overtime loss at Golden State before the wins in Sacramento and Salt Lake City. Since that night, the Magic have committed 14, 14 and 13 total turnovers in their last three games, according to ESPN's box scores. The Magic lead the two-game season series with Utah 1-0.

What's next

The Magic return to Orlando to host the Milwaukee Bucks at 7 p.m. Friday in an NBA Cup group-play game. Orlando is 1-0 in the Cup after beating Toronto on Oct. 30. The Magic then visit Boston on Monday and host Philadelphia on Wednesday, Nov. 18, before another Cup game at Brooklyn on Nov. 20. Utah visits Houston on Friday.