Toronto Raptors 111 – Utah Jazz 106
The Utah Jazz led in the first quarter by a lot, and finished it up 32-23. That’s being up by +9 points. After two over-times (where the Jazz only managed to score 6 in the last one), the tired Toronto Raptors walked off the ESA court as victors. And they played OT w/o Andrea Bargnani who got re-injured. The Jazz played without Al Jefferson, and he’s the only guy whose trade value went up by being injured, in the history of the game. Final tally on the rebounds: Utah 48, Toronto 42. Like I said, the Raps are big inside, and we missed a lot of shots. They had 10 blocks, twice as many as our team.
Utah had a ludicrous +17 FTA advantage, and still lost the game. The Jazz left 12 freebies out there tonight. Jazz missed one in Overtime, and missed four in Double Overtime. We lost the game by five points. So, yeah, not so hot. Aaron Gray had a better night on offense than Gordon Hayward. Glad Alec Burks only played 5 minutes back when we couldn’t guard their pick and roll.
I’m disgusted at this loss. We earned it though. Furthermore, lots of credit to the Toronto Raptors. When they were down big in the 1st quarter they could have said "woe is me" and packed it in. They did not. With all the disadvantages going against them early they came together as a team and won the game. Bravo Toronto, I knew you would fight hard; and you did. More than the Jazz earned this loss, the Toronto Raptors earned this win. Maybe some Jazz fans can give them some credit for it too? Anyway, more coverage to come – including the Jazz Qunitet and the long Game recap – all in one place, SLCDUNK.