Utah @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 3, 2017 ) Toronto 109, Utah 100

The Toronto Raptors have won three of their last four and have a golden opportunity to continue their rise toward the top of the Eastern Conference. While the Raptors' top competitors in the conference - Boston and Cleveland - have fallen off, Toronto has some momentum entering a stretch in which it plays 10 of 13 at home, beginning Friday against the Utah Jazz.

The Raptors own the best home record in the East at 17-3 and they will enter the contest tied with the first-place Celtics in the loss column and five games up on the third-place Cavaliers. Fred VanVleet needed just 18 minutes to score a team-high 19 points in Toronto's 108-93 win at Atlanta on Wednesday while All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 23 points on 7-of-22 shooting. "I think we got back to our defensive fundamentals," VanVleet said, according to the Toronto Star. "A little bit better rhythm within our offense, passing the ball, we had it moving a little better. Guys were able to knock down shots and just play unselfish basketball." The Jazz lost at Atlanta by 14 to begin their road trip before picking up a 98-95 overtime win at Detroit on Wednesday, improving to 3-2 following a 4-15 slide.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), Sportsnet ONE (Toronto)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (20-28): Utah shot under 40 percent, made just 12 free throws and was outrebounded 57-44 on Wednesday in Detroit, but a late rally and some big baskets by Joe Ingles made the difference. "Joe Ingles [is] big time now," teammate Derrick Favors told the Salt Lake Tribune after Ingles forced OT in the closing seconds of regulation and hit a pair of 3-pointers in the extra session. "That's what he got paid all that money for — to hit the big shots." Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert scored 15 points apiece to lead the Jazz and Ingles added 13 as Utah improved to 6-19 on the road.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (32-14): While a 15-point win on the road is usually something to appreciate, Toronto head coach Dwane Casey was not pleased with the work of several reserves that allowed a 32-point lead dwindle down in the waning moments. "It was a letdown at the end," Casey told reporters. "I was disappointed at the way that last group went in. It's a game of habits and that's what I just told the young guys. ... You create bad habits and it shows up in weird places." DeRozan was voted in as an All-Star and Lowry was added as a reserve by the coaches, while Casey needs one more win in the next six games to become the first coach in franchise history to lead the Eastern Conference in the mid-season event.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Jazz G Rodney Hood (leg) has missed three straight games and is day-to-day.

2. DeRozan scored 37 points to lead Toronto to a 109-100 win at Utah on Nov. 3.

3. Gobert has 13 blocked shots in four games since returning from a knee injury.

PREDICTION: Raptors 115, Jazz 106