Raptors return from road swing, host Jazz

TORONTO -- The Toronto Raptors defeated the Utah Jazz nearly two weeks ago to start a six-game road trip.

Thursday, the Jazz visit the Raptors, who return from a 3-3 trip that ended Tuesday with their worst loss of the season, 110-82 to the San Antonio Spurs.

It was the first time this season that the Raptors failed to reach 90 points.

"There's no explanation," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "That was a championship performance by a championship team, and if we don't come out and put our foot down each and every night -- and it's not just (Tuesday) -- we've had some slow starts and it's a habit. We have to come out and develop those habits."

Raptors forward Patrick Patterson missed his second straight game with a strained left knee on Tuesday.

The Jazz will be playing for the third time in four nights after defeating the Nets in Brooklyn Monday and losing 115-104 Tuesday to the Boston Celtics.

"I think from the beginning there were a lot of defensive breakdowns," said Gordon Hayward who led Utah with 23 points. "We gave up way too much in transition, so they got rolling and saw the ball go through the basket. It made it a long night for us."

The loss ended Utah's four-game winning streak.

Utah guard George Hill missed his second straight game Tuesday with concussion symptoms, but is expected to return soon. He received 22 stitches Saturday night in the win over the Phoenix Suns, when he took an elbow from Alex Len.

The Jazz could have one injured player back on Thursday, which will be the team's third game of five in a row on the road. Point guard Dante Exum, who has been out with tendinitis, will be evaluated on Wednesday to see if he will be available to play against the Raptors.

Jazz shooting guard Alec Burks is gradually returning from left ankle surgery. He played briefly in Brooklyn Monday in his first game back but did not play in Boston Tuesday.

"We have a situation because we have some depth," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "We're really trying to figure out who we are still, and we're not going to really know that until we get George Hill back. It's pretty simple."

After playing six games in 12 days on the road, the Raptors are home for five of their next six games.

They would not use fatigue as an excuse for the poor game on Tuesday. Point guard Kyle Lowry, who was the team's best player in December, scored a season-low six points against the Spurs and was 0-for-7 from 3-point range after going 50 percent during December.

"I just missed some shots," Lowry said. "All my 3s, besides one, I thought were good shots. Honestly, I just missed shots. I don't think they took me away from getting where I wanted to get to."

Toronto has yet to win this season against the league's top three teams: the Cleveland Cavaliers (0-3), the Golden State Warriors (0-2) and San Antonio (0-1).

"We've got to get better if we want to compete with the best of the best," Lowry said. "We've got to be better."

Lowry feels the Raptors will quickly put the loss in San Antonio behind them.

"At the end of the day we've just got to go out there and play," he said. "I personally think we will learn from this ... it's over and move on."

Lowry scored 36 points on 15-for-20 shooting against Utah on Dec. 23.