Jazz at Raptors
The Toronto Raptors look to rebound from their first home loss of the season when they host the Utah Jazz on Saturday. Toronto fell 100-93 to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday and the Raptors are tied with the Bulls for the best record in the Eastern Conference after getting outplayed in the third quarter. “That’s a good experience for us,” center Jonas Valanciunas told reporters. “We’re coming off the win streak, so that’s good; that’s a cold shower for us.”
Utah is playing the finale of five-game road trip and is 2-2 on the excursion after producing a 102-100 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday. The contest appeared headed to overtime until point guard Trey Burke drained a baseline jumper as time expired to give the Jazz the victory. Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan is struggling with his shooting, going 7-of-32 from the field over the last two games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), Sportsnet One (Toronto)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (4-6): Forward Gordon Hayward recorded his second 30-point outing of the road trip when he had a terrific all-around game in the win over the Knicks. Hayward scored a season-high 33 points and also has six assists and four steals, two games after scoring 30 points against the Indiana Pacers. After landing a four-year, $63 million contract in the offseason as a restricted free agent, Hayward is stepping up as the go-to player Utah has long desired to see.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (7-2): Reserve forward James Johnson has been surprisingly good and scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the loss to Chicago. Johnson became just the sixth player in franchise history to have four steals and four blocked shots in the same game. Forward Tyler Hansbrough left the Chicago game with a back injury but surely would like to play against the Jazz as his season-high point total of 23 last season came against Utah.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Toronto won both of last season's meetings.
2. Utah PF Derrick Favors had 21 points and 12 rebounds against New York and is averaging 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds on the road trip.
3. The Raptors have won 31 consecutive games when leading after three quarters.