Markannen, Conley lead Jazz to win vs. Raptors

The Utah Jazz earned a 131-128 victory over the Toronto Raptors during NBA Wednesday Night. Lauri Markkanen and Mike Conley combined for 28 points and 13 rebounds.

“Take my time, be a little more patient, don’t go right away and be a little stronger with the ball,” Markkanen said after a slow start, finishing strong against the physical Raptors.

With 34 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and 10 assists, Fred VanVleet had a career-best triple-double for Toronto, but the Jazz overcame it by shooting 53 percent and making important plays. The Jazz led 120-113 with 2:13 left on Conley’s three-point play, which led to Siakam’s sixth error on a fake header.

“(Siakam) reached in, but I was able to finish. Really was the best of both worlds there. It was a big game and I think it got us going enough to finish the game,” said Conley.

Despite VanVleet taking three shots from outside the arc, Toronto was unable to complete the comeback.

“When we’re up three points at the end of the night, a lot of these stats look a lot better. We were going to celebrate… we just had to find ways to win and that’s really all that matters,” said VanVleet.

NBA SCORES & NEWS: Lauri Markkanen, Mike Conley, Utah Jazz & Toronto Raptors Updates

In the final 12.2 seconds of the game, Conley hit two free throws to seal the win and the Jazz moved 27-26 over .500.

“Mike has been such a steady force for us late in the games. He and I have developed very good communication about what we would like to do and he communicates that well to the team and makes sure they are organised. His decision making continues great late in games,” said Utah coach Will Hardy.

Utah won its fifth straight game with Jordan Clarkson scoring seven of his 23 points in the closing 1:39. Walker Kessler added 17 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

“(Kessler) has seven blocks tonight and I don’t know how many more he hit. Guys just stopped going to him at some point,” Markkanen said.

NBA SCORES & NEWS: Lauri Markkanen, Mike Conley, Utah Jazz & Toronto Raptors Updates

It was a season-high 25 offensive rebounds for the Raptors as Siakam scored 21 points before going out. Gary Trent Jr. added 20 points.

“You clearly saw that a lot of those rebounds came from our own misses,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought we had some really good chances down there that we didn’t finish and led to a few transitional stages.”

Kessler blocked six shots in the first quarter, tying the franchise record set by Mark Eaton in 1989. Eaton blocked six shots in the second and fourth quarters for 14 total.

A triple-double by VanVleet, who had 37 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against the Jazz, recorded his first career triple-double.

As a result of not coming out for rebounds, flipping the ball and slowing down the defense, the Jazz made costly mistakes that led to 28 fast-break points for Toronto.

NBA SCORES & NEWS: Lauri Markkanen, Mike Conley, Utah Jazz & Toronto Raptors Updates

After the Jazz led by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Raptors cut it to 65-60 at halftime after scoring 15 points on Utah’s 11 turnovers and 15 offensive rebounds.