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Anyone else exhausted?
The Toronto Raptors kept fans on the edge of their collective seats tonight in a triple overtime thriller against the Utah Jazz.
Unfortunately, it was the same old story for the Dinos, as they let a late lead slip away, and while they fought valiantly, ended up on the losing end of a 140 to 133 decision.
It's a tough one to swallow as the Raps indeed competed for 48, wait, no, 63 minutes, for the first time this year, and really got their best overall "team" performance of the season. Jose Calderon (20 points and 17 assists!), Amir Johnson (14 rebounds, 7 offensive!), Linas Kleiza (17 second quarter points!!), and Ed Davis 9 rebounds in 18 minutes) all had solid games for the Raps and well, DeMar DeRozan put on a bit of a show.
He tied his career-high for points with 37, but also had 8 rebounds and 6 assists in the win while playing 60 minutes.
It just wasn't enough.
The Utah Jazz got huge shots from their big men down the stretch, including an Al Jefferson 3-pointer that sent the match to the first OT session, and numerous Paul Millsap 3's after that, which the Raps eventually ran out of answers for. Jefferson had 24 and 17 on the night, while Millsap 34 and 9.
Like the Raptors, the Jazz also had solid outings from numerous players as Marvin Williams, Derrick Favors, Mo Williams and Gordon Hayward all hit double figures in scoring.
To top off this rough loss, this was one of the few home games the Dinos play in the next stretch of games and...oh yeah...
...the Raptors now have to basically run to the jet to get to Indiana, as they face a rested Pacers club in less than 24 hours.