Quick Reaction: Jazz 109, Raptors 118
It’s winning time.
| Jazz | 109 | Final Box Score |
118 | Raptors |
C- | A. Lawson27 MIN, 6 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-13 FG, 1-9 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 14 +/- Have to like his energy. Unfortunately the hot shooting against the Magic didn’t carry over in this one, and so often those G-League wings need triples to drop to find their foothold, but Lawson does bring a bit of oomph to the defensive end, and he’s been able to step in pretty well there. Hope for better in the next one. | |
A- | S. Barnes32 MIN, 22 PTS, 12 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 8-19 FG, 0-3 3FG, 6-8 FT, 3 BLK, 3 TO, 18 +/- Interesting comment from Alvin Williams on the broadcast regarding Barnes: “He’s a special player. You’re gonna want him to do more, but what he does is at such a high level that you’ll take what he gives you.” His offense this season has been laborious and without heaps of success, but he has found an incredible groove, an All-Defense type groove on the less glamorous end of the floor. When the game opened up later on, Barnes just rummaged his way to the bucket repeatedly, like a finger in a pocket searching for the key ring. Turned an abysmal night on offense into a strong one, simply on the strength of the 3rd quarter. Quickley carried early, and Barnes stepped in to keep stiff-arming the Jazz later on. He’s just damn good. | |
C | O. Robinson25 MIN, 7 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 3-10 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 8 +/- I do not envy the man who has to go battle Walker Kessler’s big ass. However, Robinson also struggled greatly against Filipowski, who looked pretty good. Tough night where the Raptors needed someone to battle in the frontcourt no matter how it looks, and Robinson was the best option they had. | |
Inc | J. Walter18 MIN, 14 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 5-12 FG, 2-6 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 11 +/- Really disappointed to hear about the injury. Not only do Ja’Kobe’s minutes represent a decent watch night to night — because he’s been great in his role — but these minutes are really important for his growth. He has room to try stuff right now with other members of the starting lineup out. Sigh. Regardless, he showed his well known guile as a cutter several times, progressed plays with a live dribble, and cashed a couple threes – all while providing that sticky point of attack defense on the other end. | |
A+ | I. Quickley29 MIN, 34 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL, 10-20 FG, 6-13 3FG, 8-8 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 21 +/- LET IT RAIN. No one else on this team can threaten from beyond the arc like he can, and it’s imperative that he launches away, whether the numbers are bad or good. In this one? Good. Very good. Drove the ball well against a fairly porous Jazz defense and muscled his way to the line – which is nice to see. It definitely helps his game when he can kind of drop the pretense of ‘point-guarding’ and try to just get his. Moved the Raptors offense forward all night. A whole bunch of great relocation to find shots as well, which is a skill we all want to see him flex more often. Well done. | |
D+ | C. Castleton23 MIN, 2 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/- G-League big going against the only part of the Jazz that is at an okay NBA level: their frontcourt. Tough matchup to try and step into, but at the very least you can recognize Castleton’s size while on the floor. Still, processed things pretty slowly. | |
C | J. Shead26 MIN, 8 PTS, 2 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 3-9 FG, 0-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -11 +/- A couple late layups to save the box score a bit. Got himself into foul trouble, as he is wont to do, and didn’t really make waves as a playmaker in this one, which was a bit disappointing because there was definitely room for that. Really did love the screen reject into the layup late, though. If I’m another team scouting him, I’m never playing ICE defense against him unless I have Jaren Jackson Jr. or someone like that controlling the bottom end of things. Shead is very quick. | |
B | J. Battle23 MIN, 11 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 4-6 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -11 +/- He’s got that big, untimely hitch at the top of his jumper which limits how he gets it off, but man, he is one of the best set shooters I’ve ever seen. If he has the time, he can get it to drop. That’s what he’s out there to do, and he did that in this one. | |
B+ | J. Rhoden28 MIN, 14 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 4-10 FG, 1-3 3FG, 5-6 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/- Attack the closeout, get the free throws. Run in transition, get the free throws. Attack the offensive glass, get the free throws. There’s not a bunch of room for Rhoden to boogie and woogie with the ball, so he found his moments by getting loose as a garbage man. Love guys who garbage man their way to buckets. No frills. He’s also, similar to Lawson in that he’s obviously capable of stepping into an NBA defense that’s working and not breaking it. | |
A+ | G. Temple09 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/- Our pro-labour King. A new dad as well! A+ for being a good guy! | |
A | Darko Rajakovic Perhaps the late game substitution pattern in this game will elicit less drama than the last. Had the better team, steered them toward the victory. Coaching! | |
Things We Saw
- Still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Keyonte George. Very talented player, very aesthetically pleasing, but his decision making is really quite bad. This game obviously represents the lower end of things, but even in other games I’ve seen. Hope he turns that part of it around. Still a very young guy.
- Walker Kessler looked like my dad when he would play basketball with my brother and I when we were 12 years old. Too big. Too strong.
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