The unstoppable force is about to meet the immovable object, or some other such cliche. It’s the best offense in basketball against the No. 4 defense, the latter of which at times looks like it’s even better than that lofty perch suggests. It’s the Toronto Raptors visiting the Utah Jazz for a stand-alone trip that’s really the start of an hellacious six-game road trip (the Raptors will return to Toronto briefly for Christmas before resuming the trek). It’s the biggest test in some time for the Raptors, and it will be a nice litmus for whether the success of blowing teams out can carry over into taking care of very difficult opponents on the road.
Because the Jazz are good. Very good. Maybe even better than their 18-12 record would suggest, and definitely better than a loss to the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back Wednesday implies. They’re stocked with talent at every position, most of those players can contribute at both ends of the floor to some degree, and the pieces, for the most part, seem to fit. The Jazz, though, may soon find themselves in a kindred place to the Raptors, as they’re well on their way to becoming very good, yet questions remain as to whether they have the personnel and long-term flexibility to push to championship contention. It’s something Zach Lowe wrote about for ESPN recently, and it’s hard not to see at least some similarities.
For Friday, the similarities start and end there. The Raptors are a star-driven, offense-first juggernaut, the Jazz a more well-balanced, lock-down team. It’s a clash of styles, and it should be one of the more interesting – and illuminating – games on the schedule this year.
The game tips off at 9 p m. on TSN 4/5 and Sportsnet 590.
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To help set the stage, I reached out to the Utah-based Ben Dowsett of BBall Insiders, and he was kind enough to provide some illumination.
Blake Murphy: Let’s start with a bit of Canadiana: Trey Lyles is awesome. I thought he looked incredible during Summer League following an encouraging rookie year, and while his numbers haven’t taken a dramatic leap forward, I’ve been encouraged by the subtle improvements. How high are the Jazz on Lyles’ future? Is he a No. 3 rotation big for a playoff team?
Ben Dowsett: The Jazz are definitely still high on Lyles and his future, though the team’s success may have caused his development to take a bit of a back seat so far this year. Like point guard Dante Exum, it’s tough to justify developmental minutes for Lyles during stretches where guys like Derrick Favors or Boris Diaw are outplaying him – these haven’t been constant this year by any means, but they’ve definitely happened as Lyles continues to work on his game. I think he’s definitely at least a third big for a playoff team, and if some of the subtle improvements we’ve seen from him as a defender can continue, I think he could be a starter for such a team pretty easily. He’s struggled with his shot a bit this year, and perhaps more importantly needs to work on certain decision-making elements on both ends. But Quin Snyder has already brought him a long way, and it’d be foolish to bet against further improvements.
Blake Murphy: Despite all of their injuries, the Jazz sit fourth in defensive rating. Obviously, a fair amount of this is owed to rim protection and Rudy Gobert, as well as a strong scheme that plays to that deterrent at the backline. Is there a way to get to the rim against the Jazz, or are the Raptors going to be leaning heavily on the mid-range game and the 3-point shot?
Ben Dowsett: There are certainly ways to get to the rim against Utah, but they’re predicated on a level of ball movement that many (most) teams don’t have. Gobert is such a strong interior force that you’d better have two guys in his line of vision to even have a chance – individual penetrators with no interior passing outlets will be gobbled up, and Gobert even gets the better of some of the odd-man attacks that come at him. Teams who can force him to move outside the paint have bits of success, but this isn’t really Toronto’s MO. Knowing how iso-heavy the Raptors play and given that the Jazz have struggled on and off containing top off-the-dribble perimeter scorers this year, it seems a safe bet the Raptors’ shooting will need to be on point Friday.
Blake Murphy: Gordon Hayward appears to have taken another step forward on the offensive end, and his growth has helped push Utah to the No. 8 offense in the league. With Hayward and the addition of George Hill, can the Jazz maintain a top-10 offense? You know what they say about teams that can rank in the top 10 on both ends…
Ben Dowsett: I think they absolutely can. The numbers when Hill and Hayward play together have been relatively astonishing offensively so far, and if Hill can get back in the lineup anytime soon, it’s a fair bet these could continue to a large degree. Gobert’s own ascension as an offensive force has opened up the playbook for Snyder, and small lineups around Gobert have just been destroying teams offensively this year by leveraging his roll man skills with shooters dotting around. The Jazz aren’t a run-and-gun team, but they’ve got the personnel to maintain their top-10 mark in a slow-paced offense.
Blake Murphy: So, we need to talk about Rodney Hood. Is he better than Bruno Caboclo?
Ben Dowsett: I dunno, that’s a pretty big stretch.
In seriousness, Hood has been excellent for most of the year. His biggest concern right now is consistency – both his career numbers and certain periods of time during specific seasons paint him as a relatively streaky shooter, and there are times where you can forget about him out there. But when he’s on, he’s very on: His game-winner against the Mavs the other night was a career highlight that showcased his growing confidence as a top offensive option. He’s been huge leading the offense in stretches while Hayward sits, and he could be even more lethal once both Hill and Hayward are playing next to him.
Blake Murphy: I almost always have to ask about potential trade targets at our readers requests. So, much as I don’t see a potential trade fit here, do you see any scenario in which the Jazz would put Derrick Favors on the market this year?
Ben Dowsett: I could certainly see these scenarios, though I think they’d only become truly realistic if Utah was able to renegotiate-and-extend Hill’s contract before the trade deadline, something that seems relatively unlikely at this point (if it was happening, it probably would have happened already). This reality plus continued success for the Jazz outside their traditional two-big alignment with Favors and Gobert could cause the front office to consider whether money spent on Favors is better used in other areas, but again, there are several “if”s here. There’s also the consideration of what the Jazz would ask for in return: They’re already stocked with core youth at every position (more than one in some cases), they already have a stockpile of future picks and they already brought in multiple veterans over the summer. Unless there’s a way of improving the on-court product right now, it’s tough to see Favors going anywhere as the Jazz push for a home playoff series.
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Raptors updates
Everything’s clear on the Raptors’ side of things. DeMarre Carroll should be set to play without a back-t0-back, Cory Joseph is over the flu, Patrick Patterson has had a chance to rest for a game, and Fred VanVleet was recalled early this morning after playing in last night’s Raptors 905 game (Bruno Caboclo stayed behind). It’s more or less a full rotation on deck.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross
PF: Pascal Siakam, Patrick Patterson, Bruno Caboclo
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
Assigned: Bruno Caboclo
TBD: None
OUT: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger
Jazz updates
George Hill is out, which continues to be a big loss for Utah. He’s been awesome when healthy and a terrific fit with this Jazz team on both ends of the floor, but a sprained toe is keeping him from contributing right now. Hill, by the way, is eligible for an extension that the Jazz must be thinking long and hard about as details of the new collective bargaining agreement begin to clear the clouds around the league’s financial future. (Unfortunately, Gordon Hayward doesn’t figure to qualify for the new Designated Veteran Player Exception, which really would have helped the Jazz as they decide which talent to try to retain as the salary crunch begins to creep up on them.)
In the short-term, Hill’s absence means the point guard duties fall on the shoulders of Dante Exum and Shelvin Mack, who are definitely better than the succession plan down the depth chart a year ago (when Exum was hurt and Mack wasn’t picked up until late), but who still aren’t a slam-dunk for the offense. Exum can certainly defend, at least, but he’s out, too. So that means it falls on Mack and Raul Neto. That’s not exactly the Jazz at their best, particularly defending the point of attack.
Hood, meanwhile, is questionable to play after missing the last three halves due to gastric distress, which sounds uncomfortable. In other words, the Jazz could be a bit of a skeleton crew, and they’ll probably be forced into playing big, especially if Hood sits.
PG: Shelvin Mack, Raul Neto
SG: (Rodney Hood), Joe Ingles
SF: Gordon Hayward, Joe Johnson
PF: Boris Diaw, Trey Lyles, Joel Bolomboy
C: Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, Jeff Withey
Assigned: None
TBD: Rodney Hood
Out: George Hill, Alex Burks, Dante Exum
The line
The Raptors start their road trip as a 1.5-point favorite. Even with the travel, Utah’s injuries and Toronto’s play so far win out, though the way the line’s bounced around so far this could end up close to a pick-’em by tip-off. The over-under sits at 200 with two of the league’s slower-paced teams doing battle. (I’ll make a prediction in the pre-game news and notes once we know Hood’s status.)
