Kyle Lowry leads Raptors against 124-111 victory over Jazz

Without Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors used a balanced team effort to win their fourth consecutive victory.

"We basically play basketball without a position," said Kyle Lowry, who earned 17 points and 11 badists to lead four Raptors with 17 points while Toronto beat Utah Jazz 124-111 on Monday night.

Serge Ibaka, OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet also had 17 points while the Raptors were strengthened with six double-digit players to win their fourth straight game.

"Tonight was the way our attack is supposed to be played," VanVleet said. "As long as we shoot, their defense must respect the shooters and that allows us to play with more freedom."

The showdown lost a bit of luster – and nearly 49 points per game – when Donovan Mitchell of Utah was dismissed for a sprained left ankle and Toronto's Leonard was also injured in the ankle.

But the Raptors have not missed a beat and their offensive pitch has left the field wide open for orders.

"No one likes to play in tight spaces, in congested spaces, so with a full shots offensive, it's open and it's fun," VanVleet said.

Ibaka has made eight shots and has made 27 of his last 29 attempts.

"The guy is hot," Lowry said about Ibaka, but he could have said about half a dozen Raptors. The leader certainly finds his fencers and has now scored nine consecutive games with 10 badists or more.

Alec Burks led Utah with 22 points and Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 12 rebounds. After the match, Burks was so disgusted that he said he had nothing to say to the media, despite the explosion of his score.

The Raptors led the way with a 15-3 record that brought the second and third quarters closer together. The spurt was interrupted when Danny Green scored 3 at 71-55 for Toronto, allowing the striker to reach a maximum of 26 points early in the final period.

The last time the Jazz lost four straight games at home, it was in the 2013-14 season, where they were 25-57.

"The little things that made us so good last year – we have not really done them so far," said Joe Ingles.

The Jazz arrived at the basket many times but could not finish since the Raptors challenged them on a 3-point bow. Utah shot 8 of its 31 points at the 3-point range, but this was skewed by the fact that the Jazz created three 3s in lost time.

Despite a 21-5 deficit in free-throw attempts in the first half, the Raptors made eight 3 and shot 63% of the field to lead 65-54 at the break.

COOKING AT HOME?

The Jazz have not started at 0-4 at home since their first season in New Orleans in 1974-75. That season, the Jazz played in the city auditorium and lost their first six home games before beating Portland against Pete Maravich's 30 points.

COACH SEAT

Rick Pitino, who was fired in 2017 as head coach of Louisville, played the game in court within earshot of Utah coach Quin Synder. Pitino, who coached Mitchell in Louisville, was joined by Mark Pope, a coach from Utah Valley University, who was part of his Kentucky NCAA championship team in 1996.

TIP-INS

Raptors: Norman Powell left the game with a sprained shoulder and went straight to the locker room with 9:46 to go in the second quarter. He did not return and will be badessed on Tuesday. … Lowry, after multiple animated conversations with the officials, had a technical delay in the third quarter. … The Raptors outperformed the 29-point 29-minute Lowry's on the pitch.

Jazz: Ingles dislocated his finger with 6:17 remaining in the game and did not return. … Utah scored 27 attempts against 41 while Toronto scored 13 of 14 attempts. … Ricky Rubio had nine badists, but shot 1 against 10.