December 6th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
The Toronto Raptors, with the recent firing of Sam Mitchell and the promotion of Jay Triano to coach, were looking for a fresh start; in Friday night’s game against the Utah Jazz at Energy Solutions Center, the Jazz were playing typical Jerry Sloan-type ball: stifling defense and more often than not shooting well. They shot 51.6% from the floor and outperformed the Raptors in just about every meaningful statistical category, with the end result being Utah easily defeating Toronto 114-87.
Utah led in every quarter and would hold a sizable 64-49 advantage at halftime; they would then open the third quarter with a three-pointer by C.J. Miles, a putback by Paul Millsap and a jumper by Mehmet Okur for a 71-48 lead. The Raptors wouldn’t score until Bosh tipped in a missed shot with 9:41 remaining; Miles ended the period with a layup and Utah would go into the final quarter with a huge 91-67 lead. a lead they would cling to.
Utah was led by Okur with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots while Millsap added 17 with 11 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal and 3 blocked shots. Toronto’s leading scorer was Chris Bosh with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots while Joey Graham came off the bench to add 13 with 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Utah (13-8) plays again on Saturday when they travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns while Toronto (8-10) returns home to host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
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