Look, you probably watched this game on a Monday afternoon because of the four-day gap between March Madness’ Round of 32 and the Sweet 16. I don’t blame you — probably scrolling between the mediocre options on League Pass and settling for a tranquil Jazz-Raptors experience.
Utah’s swift 126-116 loss against Philadelphia two nights ago was only to uphold the parity going on in the Eastern Conference. Toronto, Atlanta and Philly all stood with 39 wins each between the 5th-7th seed. 8th-9th seeded Orlando
and Miami weren’t too far behind with 38 wins of their own. The point is, the Utah Jazz would pretty much dominate the Eastern Conference if teams were judged based on how good they look on the eye test.
And Utah tyrannizes that field so much that they had to send Cody Williams to a sunny beach—I mean, to rehab because of his cruel sore shoulder. Totally. Can’t have him pulling anything. That meant the Jazz only had eight active players on the floor, minus Svi Mykhailiuk and Kevin Love. who can’t seem to find playing time because they might infect their teammates with oldness. Toronto faired off much better, listing Ingram, Quickley and Poeltl out, considering they just finished a 22-point lashing against Phoenix last night it’s probably for the best.
And spoiler alert: they maintained their end of the bargain with a plain and simple 143-125 blowout loss at home — nothin’ too fancy. An unorthodox, but welcome sight. Sometimes you need one of these if you want to compete with the big dogs like Sacramento, Indiana or Washington.
Will I ever get sick of the overachieving first quarter Jazz? No. No I will not. Known volume shooter, John Konchar, opened the gates with 8 points on a perfect 2-2 for the Jazz, which is ,fun fact, is a first quarter career-high for Jitty! No? Just me celebrating? That was apart of Utah’s highest 5-point lead before Toronto erased the deficit on an 8-0 run — Jazz missing all their shots and turning over the ball. The Raptors closed Q1 ahead 31-25 after shooting 57% from the field and logging 11 assists on 12 made shots. Kennedy Chandler chipped in 3 points, 2 assists and 2 steals with 5 minutes he recorded in that quarter.
Utah endured a gruelling shooting drought through the second quarter. They were a flat 0-4 from beyond the arc and shot 6-14 from the field. Though Ace Bailey did pour in 7 points in the second quarter, adding to his 13-point total, Toronto was outmatching them on nearly every aspect on the floor. Probably the best news Jazz fans have had all month after having to hold their breath until the final moments against supposedly legitimate Playoff teams. The Jazz did have an edge on the glass with a 27-21 advantage, including 4 offensive rebounds, but weren’t able to generate a single second-chance point. Ace wrapped things up with a highlight I can only describe as a grown man’s jam.
Nasty stuff.
Jazz couldn’t put a stop to the apparent real Greek Freak, Sandro Mamukelashvili. The Jazz were punished by his 15 halftime points, a career-high 4 steals and 1 block in 15 minutes. Jamal Shead was by far the best passer on the floor with 8 assists, who should count himself lucky he never had to run into Isaiah Collier.
The third quarter was pretty much what put the final nail in the coffin. Toronto outscored Utah 18-3 through four minutes, and left the Jazz in a 24-point hole. Maybe a possible comeback if you were any middling team against the 2022 Quin Snyder Jazz, but impossible for anyone else. They finished the quarter with 117 team points, which would probably send anyone circa-1992 into a coma. That was, in fact, a franchise-high for the Raptors for points up to the end of the third quarter, along with a record 38 assists. On Utah’s end, that tallied to giving up 49 points in a single quarter. Woof.
Toronto put the Jazz to sleep by outscoring them 13-13 in the final 12 minutes. The Raptors had four players finish with over 20 points, and six players with double-digits. Utah gave up 25 fastbreak points, and the 15 turnovers they had generated into 25 points off turnovers. It was by far one of the worst defensive lapses the Jazz have had all year. Though Utah did have an unorthodox 16-3 advantage near the end, which made this game a tad more appetizing. You should take this game for what it was, which was filler that will become lost media a year from now.
A swift glance suggests it’s a typical tank loss. A punishing double-digit deficit, half of the rotation sitting on the sidelines…an Ace Bailey 37-ball?!
I’m no longer going to sit here as Ace Bailey remains nicknameless. No, Ace doesn’t count. Neither does ‘SGA’. Or ‘JT’. From now on, he needs something more fitting — ‘His Airiousness’ shall suffice. All rights and revenue belong to the Kato Parina Corporation. The rookie has been going off on a March heater, and tonight was no different. He finished with 37 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks on 11-19 shooting. Though most of his performances beforehand came along with efficient shooting performances, this one was an outlier.
I have to say it: whoever’s in charge of Utah’s 10-day contract scouting department should be given a raise. Kennedy Chandler, in just 26 minutes, recorded 13 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals on 4-10 shooting. I know who I’d rather have compared to 10-day Markelle Fultz’s 2 points and 5 assists debut for the Toronto Raptors. I’m leaving here with something.
Up Next
All of their suffering has led up to this: they’ll hold a marquee matchup against the Washington Wizards at the Delta Center, March 25th, at 6:00 PM MST.
