Lauri Markkanen scored 22 points and had nine rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz to a victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. Pascal Siakam led Toronto with 27 points. Siakam returned after sitting out Wednesday’s 126-120 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers with back spasms.
The talk of the NBA on Wednesday was Darko Rajakovic s blunt criticism of the officiating in Toronto s loss to Los Angeles on Tuesday night. ESPN s NBA Today crew weighed in on the free throw discrepancy which was at the heart of the frustration for the Raptors head coach. Kendrick Perkins also pointed to the small lineup the Raps chose to field as a reason for the foul calls against Toronto.
The Raptors have won three of four games since acquiring Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett from the Knicks and although it s a small sample size, there is enough evidence to suggest the Raps have made some significant changes to their style of play. TSN NBA analyst Jevohn Shepherd weighs in with his thoughts.
Domantas Sabonis had 24 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for his second consecutive triple-double, and the Sacramento Kings held off the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. The Raptors, with a 40-point third quarter, cut their deficit to 10 to start the fourth and made it a two-point game with under three minutes to play on a 3-pointer by Immanuel Quickley. But with Toronto down by three with nine seconds to go, Quickley missed a long 3 and that sealed it for the Kings.
Canadian RJ Barrett spoke to the media for the first time since being dealt to his hometown team, and described the excitement of playing for the Raptors: “I mean who doesn’t want to come home and play in front of family and friends and get a team that I’ve always loved so much back to where they were in 2019?”