by Alma Bean
Feature Image by Rick Bowmer of AP Photo
The Utah Jazz (19-20) takes on the Toronto Raptors (15-23) in the first night of a back-to-back.
From the Canadian Rockies to the U.S. Rockies
In the first quarter it felt like neither team was able to find a rhythm. Utah tried to push their dominance in the paint, but Toronto wasn’t allowing that to happen as they were able to three blocks in the first two minutes. After Utah struggled to find a bucket, Kris Dunn (6/5/5) was able to bring some confidence with his defense stopping a two-on-one fastbreak. Once Utah shutdown the paint, Toronto took advantage of Utah’s relaxed defense shooting 5/7 (71.4%) from the perimeter with Immanuel Quickley (15 points and 3 rebounds) leading the charge shooting 2/2 (100%) from the perimeter. Utah didn’t have as much luck from the perimeter, but Ochai Agbaji (8/5/1) was able to put a stop to his shooting slump as he was able to score five points in the quarter shooting 2/3 (66.7%) from the field. With Utah able to find the occasional inside the arc shot, they were able to finish the quarter with a narrow 28-25 lead.
Utah, in the second quarter, looked a little too comfortable with their slim lead. Scottie Barnes (19/3/3) was given the green light to shoot at will as he scored Toronto’s first eight points of the quarter. With Barnes scoring at will, Utah had to sub in Lauri Markkanen (22/9/2) and that decision was met with him scoring on the next two possessions. Things got looked to get scary as they put Toronto in the bonus for the final seven minutes in the half. Even though some of the fouls looked a little questionable, this didn’t seem to worry as they were playing the second-worst team in the league in free throw percentage (74.1%) coming into this game. This worked in Utah’s favor as Toronto went on to shoot 7/12 (58.3%) from the line in the second quarter. Though he only took three shots in the second quarter, Collin Sexton (20/2/5) started to show his confidence to the point that after a highly contest layup, Sexton handed RJ Barrett (4/7/2) with a very large and noticeable grin across his face. This level of confidence propelled Utah to 64-47 lead going into the half.
Go Flex Your Moose-les
Starting the second half, it felt as if both teams were ready for a shootout. Pascal Siakam, who is highlighting a lot of trade scenarios at the moment, treated the third quarter as a shoot around. Siakam shot 6/7 (85.7%) from the field including 4/4 (100%) from the perimeter accounting for 18 of Toronto’s third quarter points. Even with Siakam’s near perfect quarter, Utah was able to shoot 15/22 (68.2%) from the field including 8/12 (66.7%) from the perimeter. On top of the lights out shooting, Utah’s ability to nearly doubling Toronto in rebounds helped Utah solidify a 105-85 lead going into the final quarter.
Even after a combined total of 79 points in the third quarter, Utah was not willing to take their foot off the gas. Walker Kessler (12/6/1) getting the quick assist ending with an emphatic dunk from Keyonte George (9/3/6) showed Utah wanted to make a statement. Toronto showed that they didn’t want to go down without a fight but the one player that they felt could help them in the paint is Thaddeus Young (2 rebounds and 2 assists). It became difficult for Young to impact the game when he got into foul trouble early on and then having a foul call from the third quarter changed to give him his fifth foul of the game. Though the game seemed out of reach, Utah fans were able to get their wish as Brice Sensabugh (5 points and 2 assists) scored his first career points earning him the game ball in the 145-113 win.
What’s Next
Utah takes on the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow for the SEGABABA looking to extend their longest win streak of the season.
The Hive Sports 
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