Utah Jazz-Toronto Raptors key matchup: Donovan Mitchell vs DeMar DeRozan

The Utah Jazz are in Toronto tonight to take on the Raptors, and we will get to see a great matchup between one of the NBA’s best in DeMar DeRozan vs Utah’s stellar rookie Donovan Mitchell.

If the regular season ended today, my pick for MVP would be DeMar DeRozan. He has really developed into a superstar, and continues to add to his game. Guarding him will be a tough task for Utah rookie Donovan Mitchell, but he has shown before that he will always embrace the challenge.

Toronto enters tonight’s game second in the Eastern Conference, sitting with a pretty 32-14 record. This is the last meeting between these teams this season, so Utah will be hungry to even the season series.

The last time these teams faced off was was back in November at Utah. The Jazz lost by nine, and were torched by DeMar DeRozan, who finished with 37 points on 10-of-20 shooting.

Donovan Mitchell was still coming off the bench at that point of the season, but he has completely outplayed former starter Rodney Hood, and has run away with the starting shooting guard spot. The rookie dropped 25 points during that game back in November.

Mitchell will likely need to match that effort and be equally as impressive on the defensive end. Guarding DeRozan is so difficult. He’s mastered the mid-range game, and has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. His three-point shooting is way up this season, and he is always a threat when attacking the basket. His ability to draw fouls and go to the free-throw line puts a lot of pressure on the Jazz guards.

Despite the improvement from the three-point line, you’d rather have him shoot it from out there instead of letting him attack the basket. Utah will likely throw many different defenders at him, and they are going to have to turn him into a jump shooter. The key is to stay in front of him, and not foul. But that is much easier said than done.

Mitchell is coming off a tough 6-of-21 shooting night against the Detroit Pistons. He is going to need to play better against one of the best teams in the NBA. My advice for Mitchell would be to keep shooting and keep attacking, and good things will happen.

Next: Utah Jazz: Keys to winning series finale vs Toronto Raptors

DeRozan vs Mitchell will be a very exciting matchup to watch tonight. Hopefully the Jazz do a better job of guarding DeRozan this time around.

Fun note: Teams around the league have been debuting their brand new “City” jerseys. Toronto is set to wear them for the first time tonight against the Utah Jazz. They have a court design to go with it, just like the Jazz, who will debut their city jerseys and court against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.