OG IMPROVING
Toronto defeats Utah 124-111 in balanced attack without Kawhi
The stalwarts of the Toronto Raptors season thus far stepped up once again as the team cruised to a 124-111 over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
Toronto wasn’t necessarily expected to dominate in the second game of a back-to-back, but performances from the like of Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam once again lifted a squad missing Kawhi Leonard.
Lowry came up with his ninth straight game with 10 or more assists, putting up 11 assists. He, Ibaka, OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet all finished with 17 points a piece, with Pascal Siakam coming in close behind with 16 points.
Toronto is now 3-0 on the road trip and 10-1 on the season.
Slow start: The wear and tear of a back-to-back, a time zone change and the altitude in Salt Lake City showed in the early goings, with Toronto going down by as many as nine points in the first quarter and giving up seven turnovers to the Jazz’ two. The Raptors also got into foul trouble early, with a combined 17 personal fouls in the first half alone, to nine for the Jazz, sending the Raptor to the line just three times in the first half, all after the four minute mark in the fourth quarter, good for five points, while Utah wracked up 13 points from 21 attempts.
But that didn’t matter much when the Jazz was only shooting 45 per cent from the field and eight per cent from three; Toronto’s 26-for-41 from the field and 8-for-17 from behind the arc kept the team in business as they struggled to find a defensive rhythm. By the time they locked things down on that end of the court, the Raptors were able to jump ahead 11 points at the break, and never looked back.
Ankle woes all around: Both Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, who lead their teams heading into play with 26.1 and 22.4 points per game, respectively, were both sidelined with ankle injuries on the night. Leonard, who left the Raptors’ game against the Phoenix Suns in the fourth quarter on Friday night and didn’t play on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers, reportedly tested his ankle with a brief appearance in shoot around but was ruled out with persistent left ankle soreness about 90 minutes before tipoff.
Problems for Powell: Norm Powell left the game in obvious pain in the second quarter after awkwardly getting his left shoulder got caught on Utah’s Rudy Gobert as he pushed through a dribble handoff. The Raptors later announced he sustained a shoulder sprain; Powell did not return to the game. Powell lost his starting job 13 games into the season last year thanks to an injury and the subsequent breakout of OG Anunoby but had seemingly left those struggles behind early this year. The Jazz also lost a player during the game: Joe Ingles dislocated a finger in the fourth quarter. He was reportedly available to return off the bench after getting it popped back in, but he did not get back on the court.
This and that: Serge Ibaka got into foul trouble early but that didn’t stop his recent offensive serge: despite a season-low 13:46 minutes, he shot 100 per cent from the field. Ibaka has reached double digits in points in 10 straight games, before fouling out at the nine minute mark of the fourth quarter ... Greg Monroe, who hadn’t played more than 4:49 in a single game before Monday, showed his veteran presence as he stepped up in Ibaka’s absence, looking like he hadn’t missed a beat as he went 4-for-5 from the field with three rebounds in nearly 13 minutes ... Fred VanVleet and Anunoby, who have missed a combined seven games already this season, both started to find a groove offensively: their 17 points each were season highs.
What’s next: After closing out their third back-to-back of the season, the Raptors get a breather before wrapping up this fourgame road trip with a visit to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.