ORLANDO, Fla. — As soon as the basketball went through the net, R.J. Hampton turned to the crowd and smiled.
A few moments later, Cole Anthony hit a pair of free throws as many of the 13,338 fans at Amway Center began the chants of “M-V-P, M-V-P.”
Hampton’s 3-pointer with 21.5 seconds left helped lift the Orlando Magic to a hard-fought 107-100 comeback win over the visiting Utah Jazz Sunday night.
Anthony finished with career-high 33 points — 24 in the second half — as the Magic (3-8) earned their first win at home this season.
“We talk about family all the time with this team and the togetherness and the empowerment of each other and wanting to build your teammate up,” said coach Jamahl Mosley.
Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds while Hampton had 8 points.
“That’s what we live for as players,” Hampton said of the shot.
Orlando started the game by hitting its first 6 shots on its way to shooting 55% from the floor and building a 13-point lead after the first quarter. The Magic put together one of their better defensive performances, limiting Utah to 15 points in the first quarter. It was the lowest points total Orlando has allowed a team in the first this season.
But the Magic couldn’t sustain its hot shooting and the Jazz eventually chipped away before taking a 52-50 lead at the half.
Utah extended its lead to 10 at the end of the third quarter before the Magic went on their run.
Utah (7-3) entered Sunday’s game in second place in the Western Division behind the Golden State Warriors. The Jazz have been road warriors, having won four of their six games away from Salt Lake City but dropped Saturday’s game vs. the Miami Heat 118-115.
This is the third time Orlando has faced one of the top defenses in the league: Miami (3), Toronto (4) and Utah (5). The Magic averaged 99.5 points in both of those losses.
“We just really had some dudes make hustle plays especially in that 4th quarter,” said Anthony.
The contest marked the third of a five-game 10-day homestand for the Magic, who hadn’t won at Amway Center since May 1. Mosley hoped having some familiarity with their surroundings would help his young team as it continues to grow and develop.
“It’s a good thing to get into a routine,” said Mosley. “We’ll have some practice days under our belt and being able to get these guys on the court, get these guys settled at home and just being able to touch upon some things that we’ve been talking about through film, but actually being able to get on the court and walk through them is going to be very beneficial to us.”
Orlando hosts Brooklyn Wednesday before wrapping up the homestand with Washington Saturday.
