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The Utah Jazz will have longer than they would like to tinker and figure out how best to play without their shot-blocking star in the middle.
But a day after news broke that Rudy Gobert could be out as long as two months with a knee injury, the Jazz's first test ended in failure, the players on the court only had themselves to blame.
The Jazz were outscored 26-16 in the fourth quarter of a 103-94 loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night in Salt Lake City, with turnovers and a lethargic second half causing them to fall to 8-9 on the year.
"Obviously we missed him," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said of Gobert, who sprained his left MCL in practice Wednesday. "He's a big presence for us, especially defensively. But a lot of the stuff they got was from the perimeter, some 3s from their big men … and he can't stop turnovers and fast-break layups."
Hayward scored a game-high 24 points, but 16 of them came in the first quarter.
Magic forward Andrew Nicholson, who scored 14 points off the bench, broke a 81-all tie with a 3-pointer midway through the fourth and then salted the game away with another one on his team's next possession — one that came only after the Jazz's 20th turnover of the night.
The Magic forced 13 steals and turned 21 Jazz turnovers into 18 points en route tho their fifth straight win and a sweep of the two-game season series.
The Jazz trailed by eight with about two minutes, and still had a shot at a desperate comeback. Guard Alec Burks (21 points, 5 rebounds) scored a driving layup to cut the deficit to six. And after a defensive stop, Magic guard Evan Fournier fouled before the inbounds pass, letting Hayward cut the lead to five on a free throw while the Jazz retained possession of the ball.
With a chance to cut the lead down to one possession, forward Joe Ingles couldn't get the inbounds in before being called for a 5-second violation.
Starting at center, Utah's Derrick Favors notched another double-double, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. But after some early struggles, it was small-ball that gave the Jazz life in the first half.
"We weren't getting stops early in the game," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "We went small and were better offensively. We just spaced the floor and played, obviously, a different style because of our personnel."
It worked. At halftime, the Jazz scored a season high 57 points in the first half and led by 3 at the break. They shot 53 percent from the floor, including 9-of-18 from 3.
The second half, however, would be a different story for the Jazz.
"We felt like at halftime, it may have been our worst defensive half or one of the worst," Magic coach Scott Skiles said. "We just couldn't keep up with their movement and were really struggling. We came out in the third and started picking it up and when it was time to win the game in the fourth quarter, we were very, very good."
The Magic had six scores in double-figures led by forward Tobias Harris's team-high 17 points and center Nikola Vucevic's 16.
Looking to avenge a lopsided loss to the Magic in Orlando last month, the Jazz fell into some of the same traps on Thursday.
"They turned it up on us and we didn't match their intensity," Hayward said.
"There were stretches there that we got loose with the ball and they took advantage of it," added point guard Trey Burke, who scored 13 points and had six assists off the bench. "They got easy buckets in transition, got a little confident. It allowed them to get some juice going forward."
For the Jazz, there will still be plenty of adjustments to make as long as Gobert remains sidelined. Utah came into the night allowing an average of 36 points in the paint per game. Orlando scored 44.
"We do miss Rudy out there, just his presence, his competitive motor that he has. But we got to play without Rudy for some time now, so we've got to adjust to it and get better," said shooting guard Rodney Hood, who struggled on a 1-for-8 shooting night.
But even without Gobert, Hood admitted, "I think it was a winnable game."
Twitter: @tribjazz —
Storylines
R The Jazz score a season-high 57 points in the first half, but are outscored 26-16 in the fourth quarter.
• Playing without center Rudy Gobert, the Jazz give up 44 points in the paint.
• Utah commits 21 turnovers, leading to 18 points for Orlando.