Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) steals the ball from Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) as he drives around Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors, left, in the second quarter during an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, in Salt Lake City. AP
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah—Tobias Harris scored 17 points and the Orlando Magic beat the Utah Jazz 103-94 on Thursday night for their season-best fifth straight win.
The Magic went into the fourth quarter trailing by a point, then quickly took control. Evan Fournier’s 3-pointer put Orlando ahead 92-84.
The Jazz cut it to four, but Nikola Vucevic hit a jumper and Elfrid Payton scored on a transition layup with 1:42 remaining to push the lead back to eight.
Harris finished with seven rebounds and Vucevic added 16 points and eight rebounds.
Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Derrick Favors had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Alec Burks chipped in with 21 off the bench.
Orlando beat Utah by nine points for the second time this season. The Magic won 102-93 at home on Nov. 13 in a game that looked a lot more lopsided than the final score indicated. This time, it was much closer throughout the night.
Orland scored 44 points in the paint and allowed just 22 while Payton scored 14 points and had seven assists