LAS VEGAS, NV- The Toronto Raptors (2-1) survived a late surge from the Utah Jazz (2-1), as D.J Wilson and Jeff Dowtin combined for 41 points in a 80-74 Raptors win.
The Raptors had a 21-10 lead with 3:19 left in the first quarter thanks to Jeff Dowtin and D.J. Wilson.
Wilson scored eight points in the first quarter, followed by Dowtin’s seven points. The Raptors entered the second quarter with a 24-12 lead.
Toronto continued to dominate with a 40-26 lead with 2:54 left in the second quarter.
The Raptors entered halftime with a 46-30 lead and Wilson was their leading scorer with 14 points.
Both Utah and Toronto had a slow third quarter with both squads scoring 15 points a piece. However, the Raptors had a 61-45 lead to enter the fourth quarter.
The Jazz opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run. That cut their deficit to eight points with 7:10 left within regulation.
The Jazz fought back and were only down 76-74 with 1:00 left in the game. That’s when Dowtin made a tough layup to give the Raptors a two possession lead.
Dowtin was then fouled after getting a rebound and made both of his free throws to win the game. Wilson led the Raptors in scoring with 22 points and nine rebounds but Dowtin had 19 points of his own.
“We learned, we watched film, we learned from our mistakes, and we were able to capitalize and get stops down the stretch and that’s what resulted in the W,” Wilson said. “From the Raptors organization, defense is our number one focus and we let that turn into our offense and get out on runs.”
Utah Gave The Ball Away
Utah just couldn’t stop turning over the ball.
The Jazz had 12 turnovers in the first half and they finished the game with 18 turnovers.
There were a couple of possessions where Toronto literally stripped the ball away from Utah. It was like the Raptors were taking candy away from a baby.
Not only that, the Jazz played very sloppily and made a couple of bad passes that would turn into points for the Raptors.
Despite that, Utah was able to come back into the game due to a horrible fourth-quarter performance from the Raptors.
The Jazz outscored the Raptors 29-19 in the fourth quarter and was very close to leaving this game with a 3-0 record.
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