Raptors look to stay hot on road versus Jazz (Dec 23, 2016)
SALT LAKE CITY -- Winning on the road has become a habit for the Toronto Raptors.
Toronto owns the third-best road winning percentage (.750) in the NBA behind San Antonio and Golden State. The Raptors won five consecutive games outside of Canada by an average margin of 13 points.
When they travel to Utah on Friday to kick off a six-game road trip, the Raptors will be gunning for a franchise-record sixth straight road win. Toronto coach Dwane Casey said he thinks this extended road swing will also offer a good measuring stick of where his team stands defensively.
"This road trip will be a test for our defense," Casey said. "You've got some high-octane teams in Utah, Portland, Golden State, Phoenix, San Antonio and the Lakers -- all high-octane offensive teams. Our defense will be put to a test."
Toronto's offense might face a bigger challenge against the Jazz. Utah leads the NBA in scoring defense, holding opponents to only 94.9 points per contest. The Jazz held 11 opponents to 90 points or fewer this season.
The Raptors (20-8) fared well in previous tests against other tough defensive teams. Toronto is 6-1 against the NBA's top 10 defensive teams this season and averaged 111.4 points in those games. Stopping the Raptors turned into a chore for basically every opponent. They have scored at least 100 points in 15 consecutive games.
Continuing that trend is a major goal for Toronto in its efforts to make this road trip a successful one.
"It's going to be a big one," point guard Kyle Lowry said. "We need every game and we are going to go out there and try to play every game as hard as possible."
Beating the Raptors would offer Utah a desperately needed momentum boost. The Jazz (18-12) dropped two straight games amid weak finishes. It came to a head Wednesday night when Utah blew a 20-point third quarter lead and fell 94-93 to Sacramento.
The Kings did not take their second lead until DeMarcus Cousins hit a pair of go-ahead free throws with 1:08 remaining. The Jazz had a chance to tie or win it in the final seconds, but fell short when Gordon Hayward missed a layup with 5.9 seconds left.
This wasn't the first time this season Utah blew a big lead in the fourth quarter in its home arena. Unlike the previous times, however, the Jazz could not do enough to overcome the rally at the end. They shot 7 for 21 from the floor in the final quarter, while allowing Sacramento to go 8 for 13.
"You can't relax," Hayward said. "These are NBA players -- the best players in the world. 20 points is nothing. It's frustrating. Hopefully we learn from this one."
Toronto and Utah split the season series a year ago with each team winning on its home court. Friday's game will be a bit of a homecoming for reserve center Jakob Poeltl and reserve guard Delon Wright. Both played at the University of Utah before being drafted by Toronto.
