I know, I know, you’ve been glued to college basketball for the past four days — I get it. March Madness is possibly the greatest annual event in all of basketball. The buzzer-beaters, the upsets, and the endless stream of pure hooping goodness are all intoxicating. I won’t deny this. Nor will I plead with you to tear your eyes away from the pinnacle of college basketball.
But with the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament coming to a close, the Utah Jazz are here to satisfy the vacuum left in the days
leading to the Sweet 16. With AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson having played their final minutes of college hoops, a thirst for professional basketball may dry out the back of your throat.
At home in the Delta Center, NBA basketball flows like water.
One look at the Utah Jazz’s injury report leading up to their March 23 meeting with the Toronto Raptors, and my jawbone loses all structure, dropping to the floor as the list of injured Jazzmen spans for miles. Out for this matchup are Isaiah Collier and Keyonte George (hamstring twins!), Blake Hinson on two-way assignment to the G-League, and the obvious remainder of Jaren Jackson Jr, Walker Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, and Jusuf Nurkic.
So now the challenge becomes uncovering who will play for the banged-up Jazz as the Raptors hope to defend their fifth-place position in the Eastern Conference on a trip to Salt Lake City. Utah, valiantly clinging to the second-worst record in the West, will be hosting a youth showcase on the floor of the Delta Center.
Keep an eye on Utah’s rookie, Ace Bailey, who recently posted a career-high 33-point performance and has violently caught flame among his fellow rookie classmates. The jumper is clicking. His defense is artful. The three-pointers are plentiful. Ace Bailey isn’t campaigning for rookie of the year, but is it too late to consider a spot in the All-Rookie First Team? He’s hitting over 40% on very high volume in the month of March.
With apologies to Andersson Garcia supporters, Utah opted not to offer the G-League star a second 10-day contract in favor of Kennedy Chandler, who likewise wears 0 with the Jazz, and enjoyed an excellent maiden appearance with the Jazz. 19 points, 4 assists, and a steal is a great stat line to catch the attention of talent evaluators at the front office level and easy chair level alike. But a very inefficient 33% field goal rate gives the former Tennessee Volunteer a clear opportunity for improvement against Toronto.
On the topic of the Raptors, the visitors from the North are much-improved from a season ago. After finishing 30-52 in 2024-25, Toronto is 39-30. Despite strong seasons from Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett (no relation), Scotty Barnes, and Immanuel Quickly, Toronto represents the “best of the rest” designation beneath the Finals contenders of Detroit, Boston, New York, and Cleveland.
These prehistoric beasts intend to collect their 40th win without much discussion on Monday, which would push their record 10 games above .500, and draw one step closer to clinching a spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. A great turnaround for a team that whiffed on the Play-In just a year earlier.
Toronto, largely healthy, enters the Delta Center against the youngsters of Utah, largely unhealthy. The Jazz are 2.5 games above Sacramento in the tank race dumpster dive.
How to watch Utah Jazz vs Toronto Raptors:
Date: Monday, March 23, 2026
Time: 7:00 PM MT
Location: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Channel: Jazz+, KJZZ
Odds: TOR -12.5
Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.
