ORLANDO, Fla. — To put it lightly, Sunday’s contest between the Magic and the Utah Jazz wasn’t exactly representative of what the two franchises had in mind when their respective seasons began.

Each team was without four of its top five scorers when they took the court inside Kia Center.

Orlando (21-16) didn’t have Paolo Banchero (return to competition reconditioning), Franz Wagner (torn right abdominal muscle), Jalen Suggs (low-back strain) and Moe Wagner (torn left knee ACL).

And on the second night of a back-to-back, Utah (9-25) was missing Lauri Markkanen (low-back spasms), John Collins (personal reasons), Jordan Clarkson (left foot plantar fasciitis) and Keyonte George (left heel soreness).

A game had to be played nonetheless in front of 19,198 fans during Utah’s lone trip to Orlando.

After seven lead changes and both sides leading by as many as eight points, the Jazz took control late to win 105-92 by outscoring the Magic 62-49 in the second half.

Utah’s Brice Sensabaugh, led all scorers with 27 points off the bench in the 13-point road victory.

The Magic have a quick turnaround when they play at New York Monday night. The Knicks won the first three meetings of the four-game season series.

Starting 5

Without Suggs, reserve guard Cole Anthony made his first start of the season and first since 2022-23 for Orlando.

He joined Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tristan da Silva, Caleb Houstan and Goga Bitadze on the floor to open vs. Utah.

Anthony (12 points) was the lone Orlando starter to finish in double figures.

Bitadze quickly racked up seven points, four rebounds and three assists in the opening frame, but he notched just two points the rest of the way. He finished with 11 rebounds.

Houstan missed his first four 3-pointers and took only long-range shots throughout the night. He went 3 of 10 from distance, where the Magic as a whole went 14 of 47 (29.8%).

The Magic had just 36 points in the paint (compared to Utah’s 52).

Second unit

Anthony Black was available for the Magic after he missed the last three games due to a low-back contusion, but the second-year guard didn’t log any minutes.

Instead, Mosley turned to Cory Joseph, Jett Howard, Trevelin Queen, Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter Jr. as his first five off the bench.

Howard provided an immediate boost when he sank his first pair of triples and notched a team-high eight points in the first quarter. He ended the night with a career-high 21 points when he added 10 in the fourth frame.

Carter scored the majority of his points around the rim, outside of one successful 3-pointer. He totaled 15 points in 19 minutes and was active around the rim with six boards.

Rookie watch

Fresh off a career-high 25 points at Toronto, da Silva missed all four of his 3-point attempts and shot 3 of 11 from the field to notch just 6 points.

While his scoring lacked, the No. 18 pick still continued to make plays for Orlando with nine rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes.

Suggs update

Before the game, Mosley shared that Suggs will continue to be evaluated in the coming days after he suffered a lower-back injury Saturday at Toronto.

“Backs can be tricky,” Mosley said. “So it’s like on and off a little bit. He’s just going to continue to be evaluated over the next few days.”

Up next …

Magic at Knicks

When: 7:30 p.m. ET, Monday, Madison Square Garden

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