Utah Jazz: Top Performers in Gritty Victory over the Toronto Raptors

The Jazz overcame injuries in a critical victory over the Toronto Raptors.

The Utah Jazz were without Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley when they hosted the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. Utah overcame a slow start on the defensive end and 20 turnovers in a gritty 106-102 victory over the Raptors. Here are the top performers from Saturday night.

Bojan Bogdanovic

Bojan scored a season high 34 points against the Raptors including a career high 17 points in the first quarter. Bojan was awesome on a night when the Jazz really needed someone to get difficult buckets.

Rudy Gobert

Rudy Gobert, as expected, was very impactful on the defensive end. It was his offense, however, in the fourth quarter that stood out. Gobert had two critical field goals late in the fourth, including a game-sealing tip in with 24 seconds remaining.

Trent Forrest

The rookie played 15 minutes, scoring 7 points on 2/4 shooting. So why is Forrest a top performer? Forrest played excellent defense on VanVleet during a critical stretch in the fourth quarter. In one sequence, Forrest blocked VanVleet's shot before knocking down a three on the other end. That sequence gave the Jazz a little bit of breathing room down the stretch.

Jordan Clarkson

Jordan Clarkson did not have his best game against the Raptors. He scored 15 points on 6/18 from the field. He also had three turnovers. However, his ability to score at the end of every quarter made a major difference in the game. At the end of the first quarter, Clarkson drove to the rim and flushed home a powerful slam dunk to cut the Raptors' lead to two:

sheesh@JordanClarksons | #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/zg2dUmsyfA

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) May 2, 2021

Clarkson hit a three at the end of the first half to cut the Raptors' lead to six, and he found Gobert at the end of the third quarter for another field goal to cut the Raptors' lead to two. 

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