The Hive Sports

by Alma Bean

Feature Image by Scott G Winterton of Deseret News

The Utah Jazz (19-20) takes on the visiting Toronto Raptors (15-23) as Utah looks to continue their best stretch of the season on the first night of a back-to-back.

What to Look For

With Utah winning eight of the last ten games, this game will be a proving ground to show if their winning ways can be sustainable as they approach their first four-game winning streak of the season. During their current three-game win streak, Lauri Markkanen has been looking like he’s back in his All-Star form. Markkanen has averaged 26.7/13.0/1.7 along with 1.3 blocks per game during that three-game stretch. Though Markkanen has looked great during that span, Jordan Clarkson has been great during that span. Clarkson has averaged 22.0/3.7/7.0 which is at or above his season averages. With fluid basketball with their starters and bench unit, Toronto will have their hands full.

This doesn’t mean Utah can count out Toronto. Since he was traded to Toronto, RJ Barrett has been on a redemption tour to show that he is a star in this league. In the six games he has appeared in for Toronto, Barrett is averaging 21.8/6.8/3.5 which are all above his season averages when he was in New York this season. Along with the addition of Barrett, Utah will need to plan for Scottie Barnes after he dropped 32/14/7 against Utah earlier this season. Even with records leaning Utah’s favor, Toronto has been hot as of late with their last double-digit loss coming against the Philadelphia 76ers on December 22.

Key of the Game

Aggressive defense in the paint. Both Toronto and Utah are top-10 in offensive rebounds this season so the fight for the boards will be prominent on both ends of the court. Even with that aggression, fouls will follow and how these teams capitalize on those free throws will decide the winner of this contest. Sending Toronto to the free throw line may be a blessing in disguise for Utah as Toronto is 29th in the league in free throw percentage (74.1%). In a surprise to many Utah fans, Utah has made a major improvement from the free throw, being fifth in the league in free throw percentage (81.9%), while nearly averaging the same number of attempts as Toronto this season. Given the current injuries and recent trade, as long as Utah avoids sending Dennis Schroder and Immanuel Quickley from the line, Utah should expect Toronto to miss.

Injury Report

Toronto – Christian Koloko (illness) Questionable, Jakob Poeltl (ankle) Out, Otto Porter Jr. (knee) Doubtful, Pascal Siakam (back) Questionable

Utah – Johnny Juzang (G League) Out, Micah Potter (G League) Out, Jason Preston (G League) Out

Where to Watch

Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m. MST on KJZZ and Jazz+.