The Utah Jazz (22-14) will meet the Toronto Raptors (23-11) at the Air Canada Centre on Jan. 5, Thursday as the 2016-2017 NBA regular season continues.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
Utah snapped a four-game winning streak after losing to the Boston Celtics, 115-104, at the TD Garden on Tuesday night, as per the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Jazz was led by 23 points from Gordon Hayward, who also had two rebounds, two assists, and one steal in a losing effort. Starting center Rudy Gobert had eight points and 13 boards while Derrick Favors chipped in 12 points, six rebounds, and seven assists as the only other starter in double figures.
Two players scored in double digits coming off the bench, namely veterans Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw. Johnson also had three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocked shots.
Second-leading scorer and starting point guard George Hill is unavailable for Jazz head coach Quin Snyder in this match against Toronto as he is sidelined by concussion-like symptoms and a lip injury.
With the loss, Utah dropped to the fifth spot in the Western Conference standings, only a half-game behind fourth-place team LA Clippers.
Meanwhile, the Raptors have lost three of their last four games after completing a four-game winning streak. The team remained second in the Eastern Conference standings, three games behind defending champions and East leaders Cleveland Cavaliers.
In their most recent game, Toronto was walloped by the San Antonio Spurs, 110-82, on the road at the AT&T Center also last Tuesday, Fox Sports reported.
DeMar DeRozan led head coach Dwayne Casey's side with 26 points, four rebounds, and two assists, but backcourt partner Kyle Lowry had an off-night with only six points on 2-for-9 shooting, including a 0-for-7 stint from the three-point area.
DeMarre Carroll had 10 points, five rebounds, and two steals as the only other double-digit scorer in the starting lineup. Off the bench, Terrence Ross and Cory Joseph had 17 and 11 points respectively.
Prediction
The Jazz is 10-7 on the road this season while the Raptors are 11-5 at home. A close win for Toronto is predicted as Lowry and the team attempt to get out of their current slump.
