Raptors 104, Jazz 98 | Box Score | Quick Reaction | Reaction Podcast | My 10 observations for TheAthletic (Yes, bonus coverage)
Despite what the title above suggests, I have not done a lot of drugs. Â I have to imagine, then, that watching Kyle Lowry’s fourth-quarter performance on Friday was what the really good ones feel like.
Lowry was exceptional in taking over the game against the Utah Jazz, putting the entire offense on his back. The Raptors had suffered some slippage in the form of a 17-4 Jazz run toward the end of the third quarter, punctuated by DeMar DeRozan taking a Flagrant-1 foul for bodychecking Trey Lyles out of frustration in transition. DeRozan had a tough third quarter, shooting 1-of-8 and feeling the whistle wasn’t going his way, and the Raptors couldn’t pick up the slack with one star struggling and the other off getting stitches.
Yes, stitches. Lowry was sandwiched between Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert at one point, busting open his lip. He had been good to that point, anyway, scoring 17 points over the first three quarters, but a second bad shot to the mouth already this season seemed to fire him up even more. That, or he felt the Raptors’ reeling, their major run to start the third quarter – with Patrick Patterson starting the second half once again – and took it upon himself to change the course of the game in the fourth.
To the degree he did that is hard to explain. He scored 19 fourth-quarter points on 9-of-10 shooting, hitting deep threes (he’s up to 45.5 percent on the season now), driving hard to the rim for tough finishes, and hitting tricky fadeaways in the paint. He threw a degree-of-difficulty lob to Lucas Nogueira that was timed immaculately, then followed it up with a huge steal. Up six in the closing minute, he then canned a step-back mid-range jumper, pushing him to 15-of-20 on the night, giving him a season-high 36 points, and effectively sealing an impressive victory on the road – the team’s franchise-record sixth road win in a row – against a quality opponent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Rn3SggqJE
Lowry’s shown this gear before, and he’s been operating at it for the better part of the last month. It’s hard to chalk it up to getting hit in the mouth, as Lowry’s rarely lacking for motivation or found searching for the drive to take over games, but this was perhaps the most incredible of his “I’m not losing this game” performances yet. If it was the stitches that proved the impetus for his insane surge, well, his teammate is going to try to bring it out of him more often.
“I’mma bust his lip some more than, too, if that’s the case,” DeRozan said.
Head coach Dwane Casey called it a performance that “will be remembered” and credited Lowry for providing the “spirt and energy” to “ignite” the Raptors in the second half. That it was required was entirely understandable given the opponent, as Utah is a top-10 outfit on either end of the floor. They fought hard all night, made work on the glass at either end, and took advantage of the way the game was being called to really muck things up through the first half and during their comeback. This was never going to be an easy game, and one of the beautiful things about playing stiff competition for the Raptors right now is that they often still have the best player on the floor.
Without George Hill and Dante Exum to try to slow Lowry at the point of attack, that was even more evident. It also shifted the offensive burden some, with Gordon Hayward back-cutting his way to  a big night, Shelvin Mack doing a better job than anticipated in trying to go shot-for-shot with Lowry, and Trey Lyles coming through with a big performance off the bench.
Rudy Gobert’s was problematic, too, though both Raptors centers did a good job of staying underneath him, protecting the rim despite his presence, and making the most of a tough matchup at the other end. The Raptors showed little fear in going at Gobert, with DeRozan opening the game hot as he attacked and pulled up for an array of floaters. Jonas Valanciunas went to work quickly, too, scoring 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting in 16 minutes but ultimately falling victim to foul trouble (Casey thought he got the raw end on a couple of whistles, and it’s hard to disagree given what got let go both ways as the game went on). Nogueira came in and did a terrific job in support of Valanciunas, continuing to prove a comparably strong screen-setter and an enormous threat to dunk or dish on the dive.
He also did this, which was just about the greatest moment of the young season:
Or rather, it was the greatest moment of the young season until Lowry’s fourth-quarter assault, which included him hitting the deck at one point and then getting up flexing. Not metaphorically – he got up and flexed his muscles. That’s the kind of level Lowry was on, and a makeshift lineup of Lowry, Norman Powell, DeMarre Carroll, Patterson, and Valanciunas helped the Raptors wrestle control of the game back after the aforementioned Utah run – capped by a Joe Johnson three, because of course it was – put the Raptors in a hole entering the fourth.
Once Toronto had control back, Utah couldn’t quite get on enough of a run to take it back, with the Raptors finally sustaining a defensive intensity over an entire game (save for maybe the tail end of the first and third quarters). With DeRozan back in for Carroll and Powell staying in to close things out (Casey proved very flexible with his rotations again in this one, although the super-small looks that are usually a lot of fun struggled a bit), the Raptors held Utah to 6-of-14 from the floor in the final seven minutes, didn’t send them to the line once, and forced four turnovers. Meanwhile, Lowry continued cooking, leaving most – in the arena, on the broadcast, and definitely on Twitter – grasping for the appropriate superlatives.
This six-game road trip is being looked at as a good test of how the Raptors’ recent success will play against some tough teams in the West, and closing out a tight game in a tough arena is as good a way to start it off as any.
It was a refreshingly thorough performance against a quality opponent, a beautiful way to head into the holidays, and a stark reminder that Kyle Lowry Over Everything. Shammgod bless us, every one.
