Raptors feed off Edmonton energy to beat Jazz in pre-season debut
CTV
The Toronto Raptors opened their exhibition season on Sunday by being simply dominant in their Canadian home away from home, beating the Utah Jazz 114-82 in a pre-season game in Edmonton.
The Toronto Raptors opened their exhibition season on Sunday by being simply dominant in their Canadian home away from home.
Pre-season or not, holding an NBA team — even one that is in rebuilding mode like the Utah Jazz — to just 33 second-half points is remarkable. And that's what the Raptors did in a 114-82 blowout win at Rogers Place.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said a lot of what he called the “middle roster” player who saw the majority of the minutes in the game did some very good things to disrupt the Jazz.
“A lot of deflections, a lot of challenges at the rim, changing shots, good rebounding, perimeter-shot contests were pretty good,” he said. “I think I got to see a ton of the middle of the roster, which was good. It was helpful.”
Leading by only one entering the second half, the Toronto Raptors began the third quarter by going on a 17-3 run in the pre-season opener for both teams.
The Jazz, a team that is in a rebuilding process after stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were traded away during the off-season, looked very much like a club starting from scratch, shooting 32.6 per cent from the floor on the night and committing 23 turnovers.
“We’ve done a lot through our first four practices to come together as a team,” said Jazz coach Will Hardy, who said it was important to see how this new version of the Jazz did in a “competitive environment,” even it was just the first game of the pre-season.
