In every win, little mistakes are overshadowed.
Jumping on pump fakes. Going under screens you should go over. Not locking guards up on the perimeter.
Going into Friday night, the Utah Jazz had won three straight games at Vivint Smart Home Arena and hoped to make it four. But those little mistakes came home to roost in a 109-100 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Surprisingly, many of them built up on defense, which the Jazz consider their strength.
“People don’t talk about it, but we’ve been emphasizing it for three or four games,” said Donovan Mitchell, who led with 25 points. “I think tonight was a good lesson: You can get away with it for a short amount of time before it starts to bite you.”
The Raptors (5-3), which remained mostly intact from winning 51 games last season, had as good an offensive game as anyone has enjoyed against the Jazz since February.
Despite playing the last game of a grueling 12-day road trip, Toronto shot 53.5 percent from the field — led by All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan’s 37 points — to become the first visiting team to win in Salt Lake City this season.
It didn’t help that the Jazz (5-4) faded themselves, scoring only 18 points in the final quarter.
After getting out to a robust 12-point start, Rudy Gobert shot once in the second half. Rodney Hood bounced back from an 0-for-11 night with 17 points midway through the third quarter, but didn’t score for the final 18:33 of time. Coming off a 30-point game, Ricky Rubio was frustrated all night by Toronto defenders in his passing lanes and a shooting touch that reverted to reputation (3 for 12).
But coach Quin Snyder was clear — this one fell on the defense. Utah had trouble stopping perimeter penetration, and it often resulted in one of two events: Toronto scored a basket, or Toronto got to the foul line, where they were even harder to defend (22 for 28).
“A lot of individual breakdowns where guys were getting beat put us in some compromising positions, and they were able to score,” Snyder said. “So we’re not gonna win if we don’t play defense better than that.”
Quin Snyder said the Jazz need to have a better defensive effort to win, and said the team wasn’t disciplined enough to prevent fouls. pic.twitter.com/jZwu9kbWsH
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) November 4, 2017
Early on, the breakdowns were apparent: Toronto shot 55 percent in the first half. The Jazz grinded through the period by getting to the free throw line, where they made 15 of their first 16 attempts.
But as DeRozan got cooking in the third quarter, scoring 17 in that period alone, the Jazz had few answers. He drove inside and scored. He stepped back and scored. The career 28-percent shooter even hit three of his seven 3-pointers.
The foul advantage also flipped: The Raptors took 20 free throws in the second half to the Jazz’s 8 attempts. DeRozan made all 14 of his looks at the stripe.
“We know the way they play,” Gobert said. “They like to get to the free throw line a lot, those pump fakes and those things that they do with the ball. I think we just need to be more disciplined.”
Rudy Gobert talks about the lack of discipline on defense and says DeMar DeRozan grew more confident as the game went on. pic.twitter.com/5OC3XpiwZk
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) November 4, 2017
One of the few sparks on offense in the second half was Mitchell, who scored 17 of his points after the intermission. He hit five of Utah’s last six shots in the third quarter, finishing 9 for 20 as other Jazz weapons struggled.