Orlando @ Utah preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 18, 2017 ) Utah 125, Orlando 85

The Utah Jazz are sitting two games out of the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference with 19 games left in the regular season and are trying to make their way up with wins in back-to-back games and 14 of the last 16. The Jazz knocked off one team toward the bottom of its conference at Sacramento on Saturday and will get a chance to do the same when the lowly Orlando Magic visit on Monday.

Utah won 11 straight games before the All-Star break but dropped two of three right out of the break and is beginning to feel more like the team it was prior to the week off after knocking off Minnesota and Sacramento on back-to-back nights. "I thought there were stretches where we were that (team)," Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters after the 98-91 triumph at the Kings. "We had four turnovers in the first half, and I thought that was because we were playing aggressive basketball. We like to see the ball move up the floor quickly after makes. We want to make good decisions and attack. That was the mindset." Utah is making a brief stop at home to face the Magic before heading out on the road for three straight. Orlando dropped seven in a row to fall into last place in the East but is not giving up and ended its three-game homestand with wins over Detroit and Memphis to crawl out of the basement.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah)

ABOUT THE MAGIC (20-43): The rest of the season is about development in Orlando, and the team finally got rookie power forward Jonathan Isaac back on Friday from an ankle injury that cost him more than two months and immediately saw the potential he brings on the defensive end. Isaac did not score in 18 minutes off the bench Saturday but grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots in a 107-100 win over the Grizzlies. "There were about eight or nine plays tonight where he was directly responsible for forcing a miss," Magic coach Frank Vogel told reporters of Isaac. "He didn't get the blocked shot or anything like that, but he was in the vicinity and he's so long and he just changes things and changes shots. And he changes us as a basketball team on the defensive end."

ABOUT THE JAZZ (33-30): Utah has its own transformative rookie in guard Donovan Mitchell, who led the way with 27 points at Sacramento and added five rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes. Mitchell is averaging 24 points over the last nine games to raise his season average to 19.9 and scored at least 25 points six times in that span. Center Rudy Gobert is doing his part during the team's surge as well and is averaging 14.6 points on 60.6 percent shooting and 10.9 rebounds over the last 16 games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Magic C Nikola Vucevic is averaging 17.3 points in six games since returning from a broken hand.

2. Jazz PF Derrick Favors is 18-of-24 from the floor over the last three games.

3. Utah took the last three in the series, including a 125-85 blowout at Orlando on Nov. 18.

PREDICTION: Jazz 115, Magic 98