Overreaction: Game 11/82 - NBA does not want Ibaka to win the MVP

1st Quarter

12:00 No Kawhi, what a bummer, but I wasn’t surprised. Raptors will come into the game playing with house money. Maybe a schedule loss today? I’m pretty sure they’ll try to see how far they can go.

11:17 3 TOs in a row. Not a good sign.

10:00 Ibaka’s help-D is just so much better than JV. While JV’s got 2 blocks already, JV’s always half a step slow on his help D.

8:50 5 TOs already. Raptors look lethargic on both ends of the court.

7:15 JV3 of course. Kidding aside, Raptors showing some life

5:36 early sub-in for the bench. FVV and Ibaka for JV and OG who did not have it for tonight.

4:29 timeout Utah. Raps got back to within 3 (17-20) behind Pascal+Serge+Lowry. Interesting move: OG for Danny Green. Not the usual Miles/Powell. hmmm.

2:44 Raps up 1. Ibaka might be the next former OKC to win the MVP. Lowry with a stupid 2nd foul on a three-pointer. Would like to see a Delon-Exum matchup at this point.

1:56 Another interesting sub. Danny Green back in for Lowry. CJ Miles finally in for Siakam.

0:00 Raptors close out strong. Ibaka not gonna miss anymore. CJ’s defence is still a lot to be desired.

2nd Quarter

9:46. Ibaka still on his MVP campaign but picked up his 3rd. CJ Miles showed some life. Finally, Powell for Green but what a luck, looks like he dislocated his shoulder.

7:30 Raps down 6, slipped a little bit on defence and also JV with the missed bunnies. Lowry back. Good to see FVV hitting his threes.

6:49 Utah calls a timeout after OG’s transition 3. Raps down 3. Love how the team’s intensity goes up when Kyle is on the floor. MVP?

5:05 Raps back up 1 on Lowry and FVV’s strong coast to coast flex-your-muscle layups. Should be both and-1s.

3:30 it took the refs the entire 1st half until they realized that Gobert’s been illegally screening all the time. Also, Siakam is really good on the open floor.

Raptors finished strong on Lowry+Siakam brilliance. Siakam’s growing before our eyes. Greg Monroe looked like he’s been on a bulk up meal-plan.

3rd Q

8:42 Raps start strong, and are up 20. Hooomannn, this team is good!

4:37 Raps still up 18 but we’ve seen a few bad Siakam plays. He’s still rough around the edges, but the good plays are outnumbering the bad ones right now. JV did a great job being big vs the Jazz big men. Lowry and co need to step on the gas and go for the kill. They can’t have a drawn-out game on the 2nd game of a back-to-back.

1:05 Lowry got T’d up after Lowry won’t stop yapping as he was fouled (no-call) again with the defender taking his landing spot. Of course, Ibaka came back and hit a few shots. Raptors gave the physicality and defence back to Utah and gave them some more. Impressive.

4th Q

10:33 Ibaka with back-to-back fouls. Not good. Was looking to see him go 10/10 FGs tonight.

9:08 FVV seems to be on a mission to force his way all the way to the cup. Pretty ballsy of Nurse to leave Ibaka with 5 fouls. I don’t know what the ref is seeing but the Joe Ingles bumped into Favors. Monroe in.

7:22 Monroe is just too slow. Don’t want to see Monroe and CJ Miles together on the floor if it’s not garbage time. Refs just gonna keep making whistles against the Raps.

5:30 left and the Jazz bust out Udoh and Thabo. This game is over.

Parting shots:

• For some reason, the refs keep missing the 3-in-the-key call on Jazz bigs all the time. They’re on the paint for  5 seconds!
• The Raps as a whole brought the physicality and defence back to the Jazz, but Kyle Lowry set the tone for them.
• Rubio’s got one of the most punchable face on the NBA and for some reason, I felt good seeing him take a Delon Wright shoulder on his face. I don’t even hate the guy.
• Coz I'm a lefty baller, Joe Ingles is my fave lefty player and it's not even by default. He's pretty good.
• It took at least 10 games before we got to see the brilliance of FVV and Delon Wright as their usual selves.