Summer League: Toronto Raptors vs. Utah Jazz 86-76: Late rally not enough to overcome the Jazz

Raptors fall despite solid effort by Freeman-Liberty and Shead at both ends of the floor

The Utah Jazz handed the Toronto Raptors their first loss of Summer League this afternoon, with a final score of 86-76, giving both teams a 2-1 record. Some notable changes to the lineup occurred, due to the absences of Gradey Dick, listed out with a right ankle sprain, and Johnathan Mugbo, who sustained a back contusion, both injuries that occurred in their last game against Denver.

Toronto started Carlson, Agbaji, Walter, and Shead, and gave the final nod to Freeman-Liberty in the absence of Gradey. Overall, the game was up and down, with flashes of good defensive effort and ball movement, and flashes of miscommunication, poor shot selection, and lacklustre energy. Shead, Chomche, and Freeman-Liberty highlighted the game for the Raptors, sustaining effort throughout the game and showing a variety of talent and skill.

For Utah, the trio of Cody Williams, Kyle Filipowski, and Taylor Hendricks led throughout the game. Williams showed good effort on drives and shooting from long range, finishing with 15-2-1 on 4-7 shooting. Filipowski showed great fundamental skill in the paint and on the boards, posting 20-7-2 and demonstrating his versatility. Hendricks put together a phenomenal game of 23 and 9, on near-perfect shooting. This combination was too much for Toronto to overcome, leading the Jazz to their second victory of Summer League.

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Toronto won the tip thanks to effort by Shead, and they opened up scoring with a finger-roll from Javon Freeman-Liberty. The defence looked engaged early, with active hands and a high effort that shut down Utah’s chances. They also moved the ball well, leading to a 7-0 lead early in the quarter. Utah took a timeout to try and get organized and went on their own run to tie up the game. A few substitutions allowed the Raps to follow it up with their own 10-0 run, followed by a back and forth scoring game to end the quarter with Toronto up 21-19.

In the second, some of the defensive effort was missing, allowing easy baskets and rebounds for the Jazz. The Raptors also struggled shooting in the quarter, from all over the floor. They were outscored by 13 points in the quarter, and by the end of the half, were shooting a collective 18.8% from long range, and 37.1% from the floor. Despite that, they were able to stay with them for the majority of the quarter, but the lack of intensity allowed the Jazz to go on a 8-0 run late in the quarter, sending the Raptors to the locker room down 42-31.

To start the third frame, Toronto’s defence and effort had made some improvements, and they gradually worked their way back to a single-digit deficit. Ja’Kobe Walter was able to draw fouls and convert his free throws. Effort from him and Shead were the most notable, but frustration for many of the other Raptors was starting to build. At times, this led to them just clapping their hands loudly on the floor in frustration, but could also be seen in a lack of rebounding at both ends. In the fading minutes of the quarter, the lead for Utah had ballooned to 17, and the Raptors took a timeout in an attempt to try and get control of the game, but to no avail. Utah remained in control with a 68-51 lead.

The fourth quarter showed some improvement with a bit of back and forth scoring, as Toronto tried to find an answer, but Utah continued to maintain its lead, despite effort by the Raptors, slowly chipping away. Toronto made a run late, managing to get within two possessions in the final three minutes, but ultimately ran out of time before they were able to get ahead. Utah never gave in, despite being outscored by the Raptors in the final 10 minutes of regulation, ending with a double digit margin of victory.

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Great Performances:

Shead is probably one of the brightest points from the Raptors’ Summer League run so far. From the opening moments of the game this was evident, as they wouldn’t have even won the tip without his effort between two Jazz players to come down with the ball. He continues to prove why he won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award. He picks up players beyond half court and makes their lives miserable, taking charges, getting deflections, and even managed 4 steals in the game. Offensively, he’s showing a high passing IQ as well, frequently dumping the ball on drives or threading pocket passes to his teammates. While he only ended with 2 assists, that stat doesn’t accurately demonstrate his effort and ability to facilitate. What’s the most encouraging though is his communication with the others on the floor, showing his potential as a leader.

Chomche could end up in either of these two categories, since he has some great moments, but also has some less than great ones. He is often out of position on both ends of the court, loses his man, or misses rebounds. In reality, those mistakes can be chalked up to a lack of repetitions, and given his path to the league, he should be given the benefit of the doubt. He has great bounce, an effort that can’t be taught, and made 3 of his 4 shots tonight. He also had 7 boards and 3 assists. Those flashes are encouraging, and hopefully with more repetition it will become more consistent.

Freeman-Liberty continues to do what we expect of him. He’s one of the more experienced (if not the most) players on the team, so he makes a lot of good decisions on the court. He led the team offensively, finishing with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, shooting 50% from the field and long range. He also had the highest plus minus of any Raptor, and maintained a solid effort throughout the game.

The not-so-great:

Agbaji didn’t necessarily play badly per se, but given this will be his third year in the league, I’d expect a little bit more. He miscommunicated on defence several times, and missed another dunk. He finished with 9 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals, but certainly needs to improve his effort and communication on the defensive end if he hopes to see minutes this season.

Walter also struggled in this game, going 2-10 from the field and 0-6 from long range. He did finish with 9 points, largely because of his ability to drive in the paint and draw fouls, but this game will certainly serve as more evidence that he will need some time to develop. It’s beyond early to be worried, but hopefully he can get his stroke in rhythm before the end of Summer League at least from a confidence standpoint.

Battle has been the best shooter for the Raptors so far, until this game. He struggled today, ending with an assist and a steal, but went 0-3 from the floor and played only 12 minutes. Given what we’ve seen so far, perhaps we’ll chalk this up to an off-night, but it will be something to watch for moving forward.

The standings are still in flux, and we’ll definitely have to wait until all the teams have played their first 4 games to know where the Raps will fall and when their final game will be. So far, there’s still undefeated teams, but a lot can change. For now, they sit with a 2-1 record and a +6 point differential. Their final slated game will be against the undefeated Miami Heat team that currently sit fourth in the rankings. Tune in on Friday, July 18 at 9pm on TSN to see where the Raptors will find themselves in the Summer League playoff race.