Toronto • Who is Quin Snyder's favorite player? When it comes to the Eastern Conference, the Jazz coach said prior to tipoff Thursday night, it's the Raptors' All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry.
He might be rethinking that right now, though, after Lowry scored 33 points — 16 of them in the fourth quarter — to beat Snyder's Jazz 101-93 at Air Canada Centre.
"That's a tough matchup for us," said Snyder, who watched Lowry go for 36 points to beat the Jazz last month in Salt Lake City. "… We've got to do a better job on him. Same thing happened at home. He's good. He took advantage of us and hurt us."
The Jazz also suffered from some self-inflicted wounds as they lost their second game through the first three contests of this road trip. They turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 27 points for the Raptors, while Toronto committed a franchise-low four turnovers. And Utah allowed 21 boards on the offensive glass, helping give Toronto 18 more field goal attempts.
"We should have done a better job of everybody getting in," Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who had 15 points and 16 rebounds, said before adding, "They pushed us also."
The loss, which dropped the Jazz's record to 22-15 on the season, was a frustrating one for Gobert and others in the Jazz locker room.
"I mean, they're allowed to do things we're not allowed to do, so it's tough to play," Gobert said. "[But] we turned it over 20 times. It's not the refs' fault. We've got to keep playing through it. We know we're the Utah Jazz, so we've just got to play and we still should have won this game despite that."
The Raptors only attempted seven more free throws than the Jazz, but the all-star backcourt of Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined to go 16-of-21 from the charity stripe.
"The biggest thing was trying to keep them off the free throw line. We know that if we did that we had a chance to win," said Jazz point guard Shelvin Mack, who scored a team-high 17 points while starting in place of the injured George Hill. "They had [21] free throws together. That's kind of frustrating when you play good defense and it's a foul. They did a great job with the pump fake and getting people jumping into it. We've got to continue to play."
Jazz forward Gordon Hayward finished with 16 points and four rebounds. Power forward Derrick Favors had nine points and eight boards as he continues to work back into form after a monthlong absence caused by a bone bruise. Shooting guard Alec Burks logged four minutes in his second game of the season, recording his first bucket since April 8 of last season.
The Jazz led by as much as 11 on the night and did not trail until DeRozan, who finished with 23 points, knocked down an 18-footer with under four minutes left to play. It was part of a 10-0 run over the span of about two minutes.
Utah was outscored 30-20 in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors connected on 11 of their 22 attempts in the period. DeRozan and Lowry combined to score 18 of Toronto's final 20 points.
"We weren't physical enough and it hurt us," Snyder said. "It's not a real complicated game tonight. We just got beat."
afalk@sltrib.com
Twitter: @aaronfalk
Utah Jazz guard Shelvin Mack (8) loses the ball as Toronto Raptors center Lucas Nogueira (92) and DeMar DeRozan (10) defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) drives against Utah Jazz guard Shelvin Mack (8) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Utah Jazz forward Joe Johnson (6) drives past Toronto Raptors forward Terrence Ross (31) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) battles with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Utah Jazz guard Shelvin Mack (8) drives past Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) as Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) battles for the ball against Utah Jazz guard Shelvin Mack (8) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) moves the ball past Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks (10) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) loses the ball against Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) battles for the ball against Utah Jazz guard Shelvin Mack (8) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) moves past Toronto Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll (5) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) and teammate DeMar DeRozan (10) celebrate against the Utah Jazz during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) eyes the loose ball against Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) falls into the crowd while playing against the Utah Jazz during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) battles against Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood, left, and Jazz center Rudy Gobert, right, battle for the ball against Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) drives past Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) drives past Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
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