Utah Jazz pick up their first Las Vegas Summer League loss vs Toronto Raptors

Despite a solid comeback effort, the Utah Jazz lose 80-74 against the Toronto Raptors, picking up their first loss of the Las Vegas Summer League.

For the Toronto Raptors, the 17th pick from the 2017 NBA Draft, D.J. Wilson, played a fantastic all-around game. As to be expected with a player who has nearly half a decade of NBA experience, he finished the night with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal on nearly 60% shooting from the field. Along side him, guard Jeff Dowtin scored 19 points while forward Ron Harper Jr. chipped in a solid two-way effort. Point guard Dalano Banton failed to match the scoring output from his previous summer league outings, but showcased other aspects of his game with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

For the Jazz, this game was a struggle. Despite strong efforts at mounting a comeback, they trailed for the entirety of the game and simply blew too many opportunities to give them a chance at victory. Unfortunately, chief opportunity-blower tonight was none other than Bruno Coboclo. Throughout the game, Coboclo killed Utah’s momentum in a variety of ways: he committed multiple offensive fouls, goaltended a struggling Jared Butler’s three point shot, blew a wide-open dunk during Utah’s comeback effort, and was toasted on the perimeter on multiple positions in the final two minutes of the game.

I truly want to see Coboclo succeed in the NBA. Yet it’s hard to see him carving out a significant role with how many avoidable mistakes he makes. It’s easy to notice when Coboclo is focused on the court or not, and tonight he showed the latter.

Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images

Both Jared Butler and Leandro Bolmaro continued their shooting struggles. Although he provided solid playmaking and defense with 6 assists and 3 steals, Butler shot 5-16 from the field. Given how awesome his playmaking decisions have been this summer, it genuinely surprises me how poorly Butler has selected his shots. This game, much like his 3-22 performance against the Dallas Mavericks, included a heavy dose of wild layups and contested step-back threes. I’m all for players attempting new moves and shots during summer league; after all, this is the stage for players like Butler to show off what they’ve been working on. But sometimes, Butler’s attempts have more resemblance to heaves than anything else.

With that said, it’s undeniable that Butler has some amazing talent as passer. Had his teammates not blown open layups and dunks, Butler would have finished the night with nearly 10 assists, something he’s done multiple times this summer. I’m genuinely impressed with this part of his game and I hope the shooting comes around soon.

Here are some notes on the other players from tonight:

• Isaiah Miller showcased some of the most impressive perimeter defense I’ve seen from a player his size in a long time. Standing at only 6’0” tall, Miller almost singlehandedly started Utah’s comeback with multiple steals and dunks in the 3rd quarter. He ended the night with 4 steals.
• Kofi Cockburn has an incredibly powerful body. He showcased some impressive strength and foot speed tonight, and I can see why Utah decided to give him a two-way contract after he went undrafted.
• Xavier Sneed hasn’t filled up the statsheet throughout summer league, but I still think he’s an NBA player. He does a fantastic job of playing within his role and defends well on the perimeter. He’s with Utah on a two-way contract.

The Utah Jazz play again on Friday against the L.A. Clippers at 3:00 P.M MT.