Lauri Markkanen on Wednesday had 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Mike Conley added a three-point play and two clutch free throws in the closing minutes to lift the Utah Jazz to a 131-128 win over the Toronto Raptors.
“Taking my time, having a little more patience, not just going right away and being a little bit stronger with the ball,” said Markkanen of finishing strong against the physical Raptors after a slow start.
Toronto’s Fred VanVleet had his second career triple-double with 34 points, a career-best 12 rebounds and 10 assists, but the Jazz overcame that effort by shooting 53 percent and making key play after key play down the stretch.
Photo: Rob Gray-USA TODAY
Conley, who had 19 points and eight assists, drew Pascal Siakam’s sixth foul on a head fake and completed a three-point play to give the Jazz a 120-113 lead with 2 minutes, 13 seconds remaining.
Siakam “reached in, but I was able to finish it. Really was the best of both worlds there. It was a big play and I think it got us going enough able to finish the game,” Conley said.
VanVleet kept the Raptors close with his three-point shooting, but Toronto could not complete the comeback effort.
Photo: AP
“If we’re up three at the end of the night, then a lot of these stats look a lot better. We’d be celebrating ... just got to find ways to win and that’s really all that matters,” VanVleet said.
Conley hit two free throws with 12.2 seconds left to seal the win and the Jazz moved above .500 at 27-26.
“Mike has been such a steadying force for us late in games. He and I have developed a very good communication about what we would like to do and he does a good job communicating that to the team and getting them organized. His decisionmaking continues to be great late in games,” Utah coach Will Hardy said.
In other games, it was:
‧ 76ers 105, Magic 94
‧ Celtics 139, Nets 96
‧ Grizzlies 112, Trail Blazers 122
‧ Rockets 112, Thunder 106
‧ Spurs 109, Kings 119
‧ Suns 100, Hawks 132
‧ T’wolves 119, Warriors 114
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