Toronto Raptors vs Utah Jazz FINAL: 145-113

It was a tough night in the paint for Toronto.

Yikes.

I won’t sugarcoat it, it was a rough night for the Toronto Raptors.

Con: They allowed a season high 145 points from the Utah Jazz.

Pro: They are coming home now and we no longer have to watch middle of the night basketball.

It was 145-113 loss for the Raptors in which they were down for most of the game.

Let’s break it down a bit more.

What Went Wrong

It was a rough night from the field for Toronto. Usually, that would mean from three point range, but tonight it was in the paint they struggled.

Makes sense when you think about how they are missing their starting centre.

Their replacement starting centre, Thad Young, scored zero points in the game.

Their primary bench centre, Chris Boucher, scored seven points on the night.

RJ Barrett, who has been playing extremely well in his first seven games as a Raptor, did lead the team in rebounding with seven boards — but scored four points. It happens.

Pascal Siakam, the player the Toronto Raptors reportedly don’t want anymore, scored a team high 27 points.

Frustrating game, especially after all the good losses in this road trip.

What Went Right

Pascal Siakam scored 27 points.

Also, the Raptors shot 50% from three, higher percentage-wise than the Jazz, but their 43.2% from the field didn’t do them any favours. It is nice seeing this team able to hit those shots though — we’ve seen some rough three point percentages this season.

After Siakam, Scottie was the next highest scorer with 19 points. He had a decent night, but when two of your starters score less than five points collectively... 19 points isn’t enough to win.

****

The Utah Jazz have been on a tear, and with this win are now 20-20 on their season. They have won nine of their last ten games, and it seemed that the new look Raptors were not enough to break their rhythm.

Unfortunately scheduling will not be in Toronto’s favour in the next week. Their first home game back will be against the Boston Celtics, who top the conference.

They will then play the Heat, who are doing pretty well, and the Bulls, who are not but are in a better spot than Toronto.

Then it will be an emotional night in Madison Square Garden for both sides, as it will be the first game between these two teams since the trade. It took until their most recent game against the Mavericks for the Knicks to lose in the O.G. Anunoby era, so he will be tough to compete against.

Yet, what will dominate the news the most is Pascal Siakam. Check out our latest roundup of rumours, but news about his future could drop at any second.

But hopefully not until the weekend is over.