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Before Utah took off for yet another road game, the Jazz gave
their loyal supporters plenty to cheer for.
Derrick Favors scored 18 points, Gordon Hayward added 17 points
and the two forwards played key roles in the Jazz's 93-89
comeback victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at
Vivint Smart Home Arena.
"That was great, especially getting a close win like that," Jazz
center Rudy Gobert said moments after making a big defensive
stop late in the win. "We really felt the crowd tonight.
Favors, who also had 11 rebounds, had two dunks and hit two free
throws in the final 40 seconds to help secure the rare home win
for the Jazz. Hayward, who's been slumping this season, added
nine points in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz outscored the Raptors 34-25 in the final quarter to
secure the win.
"That was the ballgame," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Our
defensive focus or whatever it was in the fourth quarter. We
gave up 34 points. Hayward goes off on us in the fourth for nine
points. That was the ballgame."
Forward Luis Scola scored a season-high 22 points and guard Kyle
Lowry contributed 20 points for Toronto, which dropped its third
game in a row on a five-game Western swing.
The Raptors (7-6) led by six points in the fourth quarter --
77-71 after a DeMarre Carroll 3-pointer -- but couldn't finish
off a road win for the second night in a row. Toronto, which has
dropped three straight, lost a 115-110 heartbreaker Tuesday
night at Golden State.
This was only the third home game for the Jazz, who began the
season with eight of 10 games on the road. Utah improved to 6-5,
having won a thriller in Atlanta on Sunday night to cap a
four-game Eastern Conference trip.
It took a while for the Jazz to get ahead of the Raptors,
though.
"In the third quarter, defensively they just got a little more
physical. They were strong. They were men and they played the
way that they play," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of the Raptors.
"We didn't respond right away, but eventually we got stronger,
too."
Despite his big night, Favors made things interesting by only
making one of two free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining. But
Lowry missed a potential game-tying 3-point attempt with 3.9
seconds remaining.
Shooting guard Rodney Hood also had a nice game for Utah,
scoring 16 points and mostly outplaying Toronto's DeMar DeRozan
(14 points). Backup Jazz guards Alec Burks and Trey Burke gave
Utah a lift with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Hayward sparked Utah's comeback with a 3-pointer after Carroll's
trey. Hood then tied the game with a driving layup, making it
79-79.
DeRozan hammered in a monstrous dunk over the 7-foot-1 Gobert to
give the Raptors the lead back at 83-82.
But Gobert got some revenge in the final minute, forcing DeRozan
into an airball on a go-ahead attempt shortly after Burks put
Utah up by one.
Favors then gave the Jazz some cushion with a three-point play,
putting Utah ahead 89-85 with 40 seconds remaining.
Lowry hit two free throws with 27.4 remaining and Favors
answered with an uncontested dunk.
"We are 13 games in and we are putting ourselves in situations
to win games," Lowry said. "We just have to figure out a way to
close games out."
The Raptors took an early lead, hardly looking tired despite
having arrived in Utah in the middle of the night after Tuesday
night's late loss at Golden State.
Even after a good start, the Jazz defense clamped down and held
the visitors to 19 first-quarter points.
Toronto responded with a strong second quarter to take a 45-42
halftime lead. Scola scored 18 points, 10 above his average, in
the first half.
Utah snapped a four-game losing streak to Toronto, having lost
those games by an average of 19 points.
NOTES: The Toronto and Utah rosters have a combined 13 players
who are from outside of the U.S., including Canada, France,
Brazil, Australia, Germany, Argentina, Lithuania and Congo. ...
Toronto coach Dwane Casey, whose team had lost five of seven
games coming into this Utah matchup, hinted at a possible lineup
change if things don't improve early on in games. "If we don't
get a better start, the only other option is to change that
starting lineup. I don't know if we're at that point yet." ...
Raptors rookie Delon Wright, the 20th pick in the June draft,
played his college ball at the nearby University of Utah. He
earned the Bob Cousy Award for best collegiate point guard as a
senior last season with the Utes.
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