Desmond Bane saves the day in overtime, and more takeaways from Magic-Jazz

Breathe, Magic nation, breathe. Behind more Desmond Bane heroics, the Orlando Magic escaped Utah with a thrilling 128-127 overtime victory over the Jazz Saturday night. What were a few of our takeaways?! Let's examine!

Desmond Bane lives in paint, saves the day:

Magic Jazz — Dec 20, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) dribbles against Utah Jazz guard Svi Mykhailiuk (10) during the first quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Coming off one of his least efficient games of the season, Bane made it a point to attack a vulnerable Jazz back line in Saturday's one-point win. Bane scored a game-high 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting, including 9-of-13 in the paint and 3-of-4 at the rim.

His final bucket of the night?! A game-winning layup with 0.6 seconds left, saving them from a nearly disastrous end (Keyonte George four-point play for the lead).

More Desmond Bane heroics.

Excellent all night and capped the night with a game-winner after a nearly disastrous end.@MagicOnSI #MakeItMagic pic.twitter.com/0pnysyU0lQ
— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) December 21, 2025

Bane did knock down three 3-pointers, all of which were step-backs over Svi Mykhailiuk, Kevin Love and second-year big Kyle Filipowski. But against Utah's deep drop and zone, Bane did a great job finding the open creases -- something he's done well for most of the season.

While he is one of the best shooters on the planet, the Magic are better when Bane is getting to rim -- especially if he has the necessary space to attack. He exploited tons of advantages Saturday night, fueling their offensive attack.

Noah Penda provides massive spark:

The Jazz bench, by far, the upperhand in the first quarter, accounting for 22 of the team's 38 first-quarter points. On the other hand, the Magic bench had just two -- despite nearly matching the overall point total with 36.

Orlando's second-round rookie, Noah Penda, provided a huge spark in the second quarter to give the team an edge. He had nine second-quarter points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting. That included a steal-and-score, a putback one-handed slam over Kevin Love plus a well-timed cut and spinning layup along the baseline against Utah's zone.

Head coach Jamahl Mosley entrusted Penda to play all but nine seconds in the fourth quarter and overtime. While he struggled with his shooting late, Penda logged his first career double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds) while making a number of critical plays late. He'll need to continue to work on his foot speed, shooting and defensive positioning, but his timely plays late stand out above everything else!

The activity on glass left plenty to be desired:

It wasn't all pretty for Orlando. In fact, there was plenty of bad. Most notably, on the backboards.

While they finished net even with Utah in rebounding, Orlando surrendered 18 offensive rebounds -- all coming in regulation -- the second-most its allowed all season. More importantly, that led to 27 second-chance points for Utah, a season-high for a Magic opponent (previous high was 22).

Orlando led the league in defensive rebound percentage entering Saturday night; its performance on the glass was far from its standards. A win is a win in the end, but it will have to clean that up.

Desmond Bane lives in paint, saves the day:

Noah Penda provides massive spark:

The activity on glass left plenty to be desired:

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