Utah Jazz vs. Toronto Raptors: Keys to remain undefeated at home
The Utah Jazz have a great opportunity to keep the momentum from their last win rolling as they’ll face off against a solid Toronto Raptors team tonight.
Although the Utah Jazz have had their ups and downs on this young season, there’s plenty to be optimistic about and they’ve undoubtedly been an extremely entertaining team to watch. Ricky Rubio seems to be fitting in with the squad more and more each game, Donovan Mitchell appears to be coming into his own more quickly than expected and Rudy Gobert, well, he’s doing Rudy Gobert-like things.
Their recent overtime victory over the Portland Trail Blazers was an excellent example of just how gutsy and determined this team is. Although they struggled to get their offense going in the early part of the game, their defense kept the game close then forced overtime (thanks to a Rudy Gobert swat) then their offense came to life in overtime, thanks largely to Ricky Rubio, and the Jazz came out on top.
It was an impressive win over a solid divisional foe that could be extremely meaningful come April. Without getting ahead of ourselves, though, hopefully the win will more than anything help the Jazz continue to improve so that they’ll be ready for their next opponent that they’ll face tonight – the Toronto Raptors.
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The Raptors have been an interesting group over the past few years and seem to be continuing that trend this year. They’ve been a good team, but not overly impressive by any means. When Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both play to their potential, this is a very tough team to beat. However, both of them, along with the squad as a whole it would seem, are quite inconsistent.
The Jazz will look to catch them on an off-night, or perhaps better put, capitalize on their own stellar defense to force the Raptors into an off-night, to earn their fourth straight win on the season and their sixth straight at home. If they hope to do so and remain undefeated at Vivint Smart Home Arena, these three keys will be an absolute necessity.