The Utah Jazz scored a big-time win in Toronto on Friday night, thanks to Ricky Rubio’s late-game heroics.
Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio has never been known for his shooting prowess. Particularly from the outside, where he’s connected on less than 30 percent of his attempts this season.
So, with the game on the line on Friday night, the Toronto Raptors left Rubio free to launch a triple with time winding down. The math may have checked out on putting their aces in other places, but on this occasion, the long-shot came through.
Rubio stepped up and hit a game-winning 3-pointer with just 5.7 seconds left on the clock. Toronto looked to DeMar DeRozan to tie the game on the ensuing possession, but his turnaround jumper was no good. Royce O’Neale then iced the 97-93 win at the foul line.
It was an absolutely tremendous victory for Utah and, undoubtedly, a bit of a confidence booster. The team has struggled on the road all year long, but they’ve now been able to grind out consecutive good wins away from Vivint Arena.
🎶 Celebrate with a toast 🎶#takenote #UTAatTOR https://t.co/GSUAwPdwYq
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 27, 2018
The Jazz were also able to withstand a monster game from Jonas Valanciunas. The Lithuanian big man finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds. He got the best of Rudy Gobert many times throughout the night, and it was one of his best games this season.
Although Valanciunas had a big game, but the Jazz did a great job defending Toronto’s two All-Stars in DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. Lowry was held to just five points on 2-of-14 shooting, while DeRozan had 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting.
The Jazz threw multiple defenders at both players, and they did a great job defending without fouling. Eventually, the Raptors players were increasingly getting frustrated with the prominence of no-calls. It was a great effort from the Jazz on the defensive end.
Rubio hit the big three, and also had a great game. He scored 14 points while adding six rebounds and six assists. Donovan Mitchell led the team offensively with 26 points. Gobert finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks.
Utah did a great job grinding this one out. They made the right plays down the stretch, and got another surprise victory. It looked like they would lose in Detroit, but they made a run and won. It looked like Toronto would close it out on Friday, but they made a run and won.
Jazz closed the final stretch in Detroit on a 10-1 run and tonight closed on a 7-0 run
— David Locke (@DLocke09) January 27, 2018
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Another thing Utah did very well was control the pace of the game. Toronto is one of the better scoring teams in the league, and the Jazz held them to 93 points. They kept the pace slower, and that played a big part in this win.
With this win, the Jazz are now 21-28 on the season. They’ll have three days off before returning to the court to take on the defending NBA Champions, the Golden State Warriors. Utah will debut their brand new City uniforms, along with a new court design, just like the Raptors did tonight.
Great win, Jazz Nation!