The opportunity was prime for the Jazz to even their record for the first time this season.

Coming off a 39-point win in Miami on Tuesday night, they had won six of their last eight games prior to Wednesday. The Magic, meanwhile, were fresh off a 1-5 road trip and without their two brightest stars.

So why was Utah kicking itself afterward?
     
Perhaps because, down deep, they know they didn't do their level-best to finally reach .500. The 12-14 Jazz lost 98-90 at Orlando, squandering the sort of chance that doesn't come nearly as frequently as once upon a time.
     
"That game's certainly a winnable one," Jazz guard John Stockton said.
     
Or at least it should have been.
     
The Magic were hurting, with two key cogs out of town tending to medical woes.
     
Grant Hill underwent one-hour, season-ending surgery Wednesday in Baltimore to remove extensive bone spurs and make other repairs to his left ankle, which will remain in a cast for about a month. And Tracy McGrady went to Atlanta, where a specialist examined his strained lower back.
     
No wonder the Jazz felt so sick for letting this one get away.
     
It's "definitely . . . some kind of step backward," said Jazz small forward Donyell Marshall, who came up big on the offensive end with 24 points and 20 points but struggled defensively in the fourth quarter against Magic outside sharpshooter Pat Garrity.