Quick Reaction: Raptors 123, Jazz 104

Takin' care of business.


Toronto Raptors123Final

Recap | Box Score

104Utah Jazz
Amir Johnson, PF 26 MIN | 6-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 13 PTS | +3An understated performance, but every bit as impressive as his more offense-oriented frontcourt mates. Pure excellence on the pick and roll, and the only Raptor big to provide a consistent presence at the rim. Bricked two 3 pointers, which will get you docked a level on my scale every day, Amir. Overall, though, nice work, particularly playing with a busted wheel on the second half of a back to back.

Terrence Ross, SF 31 MIN | 4-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +5A quietly efficient night – he made the right decision with the ball most of the time and rightly earned crunch time minutes. I really liked the way he flew in from the perimeter for boards; he only finished with four, but every one was noticeable.

Jonas Valanciunas, C 33 MIN | 4-9 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | -4A bit of an up and down night – he had some incredible offensive sequences, including a memorable drive and reverse layup in the fourth quarter, but offset that with some hot and cold work on the defensive side of the ball and took some time to get going early, even though the wings were doing their best to get him the ball. That said, the refs weren’t doing any favors, and he put his head down and contributed to the win in a meaningful way. That’s maturation, too.

Kyle Lowry, PG 38 MIN | 13-22 FG | 9-9 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 39 PTS | +8With DeMar out, he looked for his own tonight – and man, did he get them. Hit from all across the court, taking advantage of two Utah rookies guarding him, on the way to a career high in scoring. The man has legitimately worked his way into the MVP conversation, and it’s hard not to feel like he’s the kind of guy who deserves it.

Greivis Vasquez, PG 31 MIN | 7-13 FG | 0-1 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 17 PTS | +19He seems energized by the promotion to the starting lineup, and made excellent decisions with the ball tonight, finding shooters in traffic and being dead on with his own. There were a couple occasions where the pace picked up, and his play in particular suffered, but if he can keep the sloppiness to a minimum, he’s already proven how effective he is playing alongside Lowry. Didn’t notice him defensively, which is a very good thing.

Tyler Hansbrough, PF 6 MIN | 0-0 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +10Didn’t play much after a scary fall in the first (he seems fine, but the lead wasn’t going anywhere). Did what he usually does: high energy, low impact, which was perfectly acceptable tonight.

James Johnson, PF 19 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | +15He was pretty much a non-factor offensively, which is to be expected when nobody else can miss, but played solid, if not spectacular defense by his own standards. Bit of a forgotten man with all the offensive threats playing with Game Genies.

Patrick Patterson, PF 31 MIN | 5-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +29Dead-eye from the perimeter, and mixed it up well a couple nice post-ups to keep defenses honest. The high pick and roll with him and Vasquez is deadly. Defensively, he wasn’t always on – he seems confused at times when defending screen and rolls and had difficulty at the rim with Utah’s size – but tonight, it wasn’t even close to a factor.

Greg Stiemsma, C 0 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0HEY GUYS, ITS ME, GREG STIEMSMA

Louis Williams, SG 26 MIN | 5-9 FG | 6-6 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 17 PTS | +10Apparently his poor outing in Sacramento was nothing but a blip. He couldn’t miss in the first half and supplemented his offensive output with a couple steals. The way he draws fouls is simply sublime. On a related note: not that he hit any tonight, but I wonder what the NBA record is for time expired shots in a season. The way the Raptors run the play for him every time he’s on the floor, he may have a chance.

Dwane Casey
The team was pretty much on cruise control all game, but he did a good job of calling timeouts at the right times and giving the team the push it needed. The most obvious example was in the third quarter with the Jazz in the midst of a 9-2 run: Casey called timeout, berated the Raptors, and the differential quickly widened again. I don’t know how I feel about only playing 9 players on the second half of a road back-to-back.

Three Things We Saw

  1. With concerns about fatigue in the second phase of a road back-to-back, the first half was a freaking shooting gallery: the Raptors went 8-11 from 3 en route to a huge lead Utah never really threatened.
  2. When these guys are on, it’s truly impressive to watch their ball movement. There were multiple plays in this game that sped around all five guys and were almost Spurs-esque in their complexity and execution. I can’t remember ever even thinking the term “Spurs-esque” when it comes to a Raptors team before.
  3. If Kyle Lowry gets snubbed for the All-Star team again this season, we need to really start rethinking how these decisions get made.