NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking Points as Toronto Raptors beat Utah Jazz 122-116

In a cross-conference match, the 2nd seed in the East, Toronto Raptors went head-to-head against the Utah Jazz in what turned out to be the Kawhi Leonard show.

Both the teams played a good brand of basketball and there was not much to separate separation between the two except Kawhi Leonard. Utah played hard and never gave up until the final buzzer. On the other hand, Toronto did what they do best. They stuck to their basketball style and won the game, which is the priority.

The Raptors have now won 3 of their last 5 matches and are ranked 2nd in the East with a record of 28-11, while the Jazz have lost 3 of their last 5 matches and are ranked 11th in the West with a record of 18-20.

With all that in mind, here are the top 3 talking points from this game -

#3 Battle of two great benches

This match was supposed to be a highly competitive one from the start and both teams did deliver on the promise. Even the bench of both the teams came out to prove each other's mettle and prove which team has better bench players.

Even though Toronto were missing some of their crucial players, their bench gave a good fight against the Jazz's bench, which outscored them by 13 points. They all were airtight and made sure that they contributed to their team's victory.

The bench for the Utah Jazz did their job as they gave them a huge advantage in terms of bench points. Yet, the team was not able to take advantage of it and succumbed to a loss.

Jae Crowder was phenomenal in the match as he came off the bench and scored 30 crucial points for Utah in just 26 minutes.