Bogdanovic Powers Jazz Past Raptors With Big Performance

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz knocked off the Toronto Raptors 106-102 with a big fourth quarter on Saturday night and a great bounce back performance.

The Jazz trailed most of the night before outscoring the Raptors 21-13 in the fourth quarter in order to pick up the win. Bojan Bogdanovic led the way with 34 points. Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles each added 15 points, while Rudy Gobert recorded a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.

Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 30 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Khem Birch chipped in 17 points and 10 rebounds, while OG Anunoby scored 17 points.

The @utahjazz win!

They beat the @raptors 106-102 led by Bojan Bogdanovic who scored 34 points

No other Jazz player scored more than 15. #takenote pic.twitter.com/SkxRHc28Aj

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 2, 2021

Bogdanovic Has Big First Half For Jazz

At the end of the first quarter, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 17 of the Jazz 29 points. He shot 7-of-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from the three-point line. Toronto had a 33-29 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The point total for Bogey was a season-high and tied a career-high for most points in a single quarter. Utah’s other points in the first quarter came from Jordan Clarkson (6), Georges Niang (3), Joe Ingles (3).

It was a tightly contested second quarter as the Jazz would try to make runs but the Raptors would answer everything that was thrown at them. Toronto outscored Utah 29-27 in the second quarter to take a 62-56 lead at the halftime break.

Joe Ingles sparked the Jazz in the second quarter with 8 points. Fred VanVleet scored 10 of his 21 points in the second quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic had 21 points at the break.

Toronto shot 52 percent (24-46) from the field and 40 percent (8-20) from the three-point line. The Jazz made 48 percent (18-37) of their field goals and 43 percent (9-21) of their threes.

At the half, the @utahjazz trail the @Raptors 62-56.

Big first half from Bojan Bogdanovic who scored 21 points to match Fred VanVleet. #Takenote pic.twitter.com/KSEhr4w4Bz

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 2, 2021

Jazz Put Clamps Down On Raptors In Second Half

The Jazz started the third quarter on a 12-4 run before Toronto answered with an 8-0 run of their own to bring the game back to square one. Utah then went on another run as they tied the game at 79 with 3:06 left in the third quarter. After tying the game, the Raptors took the lead back again and held an 89-85 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Bogdanovic scored 10 points in the quarter to lead the Jazz, while Rudy Gobert added 7 points. OG Anunoby had 8 third quarter points to lead the Raptors. Bogey was up to 31 points through three quarters.

After trailing by one with under 8 minutes to play, Royce O’Neale hit a big three-pointer to give the Jazz the lead. Toronto went cold for a good portion of the next five minutes and the Jazz did just enough to keep the lead. With 56 seconds left, Utah was up 103-98.

Utah had a three-point lead when Gobert made a key tip-in.

The Jazz improved their record to 45-18 on the season and regained the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference standings. They will continue their five game home stand with two straight matchups with the San Antonio Spurs beginning on Monday, May 3 at 8 p.m. MDT on AT&T SportsNet.

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