Great game. Comment away.
 | TOR Raptors | 101 | Final Box Score | 92 | UTA Jazz |  |
 A+ | P. Siakam39 MIN, 27 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST, 0 STL, 9-18 FG, 2-5 3FG, 7-7 FT, 0 BLK, 5 TO, 20 +/- One of his best all-around games of the year. Covered so much ground defensively, and his floor game offensively was impeccable. Terrific playmaking and sense for where the Jazz defense was. He was a menace inside the arc and navigated everything that the Jazz threw his way. | |
 B+ | O. Anunoby33 MIN, 7 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3-6 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 5 +/- Hit a big three late, made a couple standout defensive stops, and got into it with Gobert. All very good things, albeit during a bit of an underwhelming offensive performance. That’s okay, though. Quiet game (until the end, of course), but a fine game nonetheless. | |
 A+ | S. Ibaka37 MIN, 27 PTS, 13 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 9-17 FG, 5-7 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, 28 +/- Wonderful. His shooting was the reason why Gobert couldn’t bury himself deep inside the paint and hound Siakam as a help-side defender. His second half defense was also tremendous. He’s an incredible piece of this team. There just isn’t a way to imagine this squad without his contributions game to game. | |
 A | K. Lowry43 MIN, 21 PTS, 5 REB, 7 AST, 3 STL, 7-18 FG, 4-12 3FG, 3-5 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 15 +/- Ever the pacemaster of this team, he knew when to shift gears tonight. Terrific sense of the moment, and slick playmaking throughout. Not to mention that HUGE stepback triple late in the fourth. Lovely game. | |
 A+ | N. Powell2 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -1 +/- Gutted for him. Get better soon. | |
 B+ | P. McCaw43 MIN, 2 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 1-5 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 21 +/- A very nice game. His ball denial was really great on the defensive end, and he was a solid ball mover offensively. It was pretty rare to see the ball stuck with him, and while it was clear he wasn’t an effective release-valve at all, he filled the lane and did everything outside of scoring. One of his best games of the year, as he plugged in well enough. | |
 B- | R. Hollis-Jefferson22 MIN, 8 PTS, 9 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3-7 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -13 +/- The personal numbers are there, as he worked tirelessly when he was in the game. But, he took far too much of the ball. He had an incredible possession that finished in a score, but too often the ball hits his hands and doesn’t leave them save for a brick or a turnover. He’s playing role that overhauls the offense to his frantic post-ups. That’s partly due to who his running mates are, but it’s still a problem. Like the effort, but his limitations were very loud in this one. | |
 B+ | M. Thomas12 MIN, 9 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 4-7 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/- Got his nose dirty with some grubby rebounds (he often does) and did a decent job of getting downhill against very aggressive close-outs against him. Hit some shots, too! | |
 D | T. Davis6 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -15 +/- Still looking squarely at the rookie wall. Tough games piling up now. | |
 C | C. Boucher6 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -15 +/- Similar to RHJ, he’s not being serviced by the guards he’s playing with right now. And that’s a tough job for dive man like Boucher. Wasn’t his game or matchup. | |
 A+ | Nick Nurse I thought he did a great job of identifying what was working out there tonight. The McCaw-Davis minutes are correctly going to McCaw in this stretch, and if I were coaching I probably would’ve tried Boucher for longer, which would’ve been wrong, I think. Won his challenge, great scheme against Gobert, and made the right calls. Nice stuff. | |
Things We Saw
- Sheesh. Tough game for Gobert stans the world over. Conley and Mitchell are really poor at finding him in the offense. Ingles seemed to have the eye for it, but the Raptors did a fantastic job of putting Gobert on an island offensively. They took one of the games most “impactful” players and relegated him to nothingness.
- Siakam’s patience in post-ups is going to pay huge dividends in the playoffs. That’s an extremely controlled playtype and I love the reps he’s getting and the growth he’s showing. He even hit the majority of his fadeaways today.
- The Jazz broadcast is a pretty rough listen, I gotta be honest. The Raptors are huge homers, of course, but they’re remarkably entertaining, especially with all of Jack’s different affectations and witticisms. If you ever have the choice to listen to something else, avoid the Utah broadcast.
