Postgame: Jazz 87, Magic 81

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Jazz earned a big win tonight over a hot Orlando team, winning 87-81 behind 31 points from Al Jefferson before he left the game with back spasms.

Said Randy Foye of Jefferson's injury: "First thing I was thinking about was, well, the Orlando Magic, Dwight Howard went out with back spasms last year. Please don't let this happen to [Jefferson]. After he was having a game like this and he just was so dominant and we needed him at that time. ... From the looks of it, hopefully tomorrow everything's all right and he feels good." Jefferson said he did not plan on missing any games, but that will depend on how he responds to treatment over the next two days before the Jazz host Toronto on Friday.

• Marvin Williams returned to the Jazz lineup after missing three games with concussion symptoms. He played 23 minutes and scored 8 points. Asked if he felt any symptoms he said no, but that the arena seemed louder to him than usual.

"When I first got out there," he said, "the JumboTron, I had to plug my ears."

• Everyone seems hopeful that Derrick Favors will return for the Jazz on Friday. However, the reserve big man has not yet resumed basketball activiities.

• The Magic were disastrous down the stretch, including a botch 2-on-1 fast break involving Arron Afflalo and Jameer Nelson two plays before Randy Foye hit the Jazz's go-ahead jumper. Former Jazz guard Jacque Vaughn pointed to that as maybe the key play for the Magic.

"We had a good look," Vaughn said, "and it's not really our young players. We had a fastbreak where Jameer and Arron had a two on one. You know that's basketball and we didn't convert it. We played good defense on our end and they almost threw it out of bounds and then Randy Foye hits a 3. Sometimes the basketball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't."

— Bill Oram