Bailey's career-high 37 points not enough to overcome Raptors in 143-127 loss

SALT LAKE CITY — Despite Ace Bailey's best efforts, a great shooting performance from the Raptors was too much to overcome for the Jazz Monday night.

Bailey — arguably one of the NBA's top rookies — scored a career-high 37 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point range, but the Utah Jazz fell to Toronto 143-127 at the Delta Center.

At this point in the season, it's expected that Bailey will have a high-scoring outing every time he starts and finishes a game. He looks to be making a late-season push for the All-Rookie first team due to his play since the All-Star break.

"Ace has studied a lot of film this year," Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. "He's worked really hard on a variety of aspects of his game offensively."

Since the break, Bailey has averaged 19.4 points and has been one of the best shooters in the NBA during that span, especially from 3-point range. The recent success hasn't satisfied Bailey, though, and he spoke postgame about his work ethic and desire to be great.

"I still want to learn," Bailey said. "There's a lot for me to learn, so I feel like I'm always open to learn. You just, obviously, want to be the best, and it comes with work."

John Konchar had his highest scoring output as a member of the Jazz with 19 points in the loss. He hit a pair of 3-point shots in the first quarter to help keep Utah in the game early.

The Jazz remained in striking distance of the Raptors for much of the first half, but the team could never get ahead.

Sandro Mamukelashvili knocked down three triples and poured in 15 points in the first half to help give Toronto a comfortable 10-point lead at halftime. Mamukelashvili was one of six Raptors players to reach double-digit scoring in Monday's game.

Setting the table for a hot-shooting Toronto team was Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead. Barnes did a bit of everything, scoring 20 points for the Raptors while also adding 10 assists and seven rebounds. Shead on the other hand, tallied a career-high 15 assists.

Just as it's been this season and throughout the Jazz's rebuild, the game started to slip out of hand during the third quarter. Toronto shot well from the field and had a balanced diet of scoring throughout its lineup.

R.J. Barrett was a big reason for the Raptors' third quarter surge, in which he erupted for 18 points in the quarter to help push Toronto's lead to as much as 35 and a score total of 49 points in the quarter.

That deficit all-but-sealed the outcome of the game despite a 16-0 run from Utah that made things a little too close for Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic's liking.

"Our defense lately has been very disruptive coming into tonight's game," Hardy said. "Over the last five games, we were first in the NBA in turnovers forced; but in the last 10 (games), I think fourth. It allowed us to get out and run and play against unset defense. And for three quarters of tonight's game we just weren't very disruptive."

Another bright spot in an otherwise ugly game for Utah was the play of Kennedy Chandler in his second game with the team. Chandler recorded 13 points and nine assists while also recording three steals.

"It's been great just seeing guys here like Jaren (Jackson Jr.) and Vince (Williams Jr.) and John Konchar," Chandler said. "I was with them my rookie year, so just seeing them, they give me the positivity to just go out there and be yourself. So those guys have given me confidence."

Konchar, one of the familiar faces for Kennedy, spoke about the young guard's growth since he broke into the NBA as a rookie in Memphis.

"It's awesome," Konchar said. "I was with him for two years in Memphis, his first two years, and he's grown a lot. Grew a lot in the G League, and it's exciting to have him here."

Chandler is the most recent Jazzman to be signed to a 10-day contract, and he's tried his best to make the most of it.

"There are definitely moments that are surprising in a fun way, but desperation is a heck of a thing," Hardy said. "I think when people get opportunities like this, that are very finite, just on a 10-day contract, you can treat that like a sprint. I think that all of the guys that we've had on 10-days this year have been outstanding."

Related topics