The Toronto Raptors (40 - 19) defeated the Utah Jazz (28 - 32) 104 - 94 on Wednesday. A game that was expected to be a grind - it - out defensive battle largely fulfilled that prophecy, with Toronto finally able to pull away on the strength of a pair of standout efforts from their two best players, and an injury to one of their opponent's key pieces. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both tallied over 30 points, and Jazz shooting guard Rodney Hood exited the game in the second quarter after suffering a blow to the head, further dampening Utah's prospects. Despite Hood's absence for the entire second half, the Jazz battled throughout, and even managed to considerably outperform Toronto from three - point range by a margin of 39 percent to 27 percent. However, they were surprisingly outmuscled down low despite their formidable frontcourt, getting outrebounded 45 - 33 and outscored in the paint by a margin of 56 - 42. Gordon Hayward spearheaded the offensive attack for Utah with 26 points, half of which came in the first quarter. He added six assists, three rebounds and a block. Derrick Favors was next with 15 points, seven rebounds, an assist and a block. Rudy Gobert checked in with 10 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals. Trey Burke and Raul Neto paced the reserves with respective tallies of 11 and 10 points. The former added a rebound, while the latter also posted two rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Jazz sit in third place in the Western Conference's Northwest Division and are currently a game behind the eighth - seeded Houston Rockets. They head to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Friday night. Lowry paced the Raptors with 32 points, five assists, four rebounds, three steals and a block. DeRozan was right behind him with 31 points and five rebounds. Jonas Valanciunas collected 10 points, hauled in eight boards and recorded a block. Terrence Ross paced the Toronto reserves with 11 points, three rebounds and two steals. Toronto remains atop the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, and possesses the second seed in the conference, two games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers. They're home again on Friday night for a showdown with the Portland Trail Blazers.
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 "TeamStat(G,'Jazz') has 39 Percentage of 3 points ,has 32 Losses ,has 94 Total points ,has 26 Points in 1st quarter ,has 33 Rebounds ,has 28 Wins ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Gordon Hayward') has 6 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 26 Points ,has 3 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Derrick Favors') has 1 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 15 Points ,has 7 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Rudy Gobert') has 2 Assists ,has 10 Blocks ,has 8 Points ,has 2 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Raul Neto') has 10 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Trey Burke') has 11 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Jonas Valanciunas') has 1 Assists ,has 10 Blocks ,has 8 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'DeMar DeRozan') has 31 Assists ,has 5 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kyle Lowry') has 5 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 32 Points ,has 4 Total rebounds ,has 3 Steals ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Terrence Ross') has 11 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 2 Points ."]