NBA Thursday recap: Jazz, Clippers grab big wins to remain perfect in pre-season

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Just three games on the slate tonight, with the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors all picking up wins in Thursday's pre-season action.

The Jazz and Clippers both maintained their unbeaten records with big victories, winning by 39 and 48 points respectively, while the short-handed Raptors took care of the Pelicans.

Catch up on all the night's news, highlights and scores in our recap of the day below:

Toronto Raptors 134 New Orleans Pelicans 119

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The Toronto Raptors were missing Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Danny Green and Serge Ibaka for their final pre-season game, but Pascal Siakam filled the void with an energising 21-point performance. He added 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Malachi Richardson came off the bench with 21 points of his own as the Raptors closed out their pre-season with an encouraging 4-1 record.  


The Raptors led 67-64 at the half and never looked back, ballooning the lead to as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter.  New Orleans rallied to cut the deficit to just two points with 7:39 remaining, but the Raptors found another gear to close the game on a 23-10 run.

With eight minutes remaining, Raptors forward Chris Boucher left the game after colliding with Anthony Davis, appearing to land on his head.  Raptors spokesman Roven Yau said post-game that Boucher "passed the NBA concussion protocol and will continued to be monitored."

Davis had a game-high 36 points and 15 rebounds for the Pelicans, who remain winless in pre-season.

Utah Jazz 132 Sacramento Kings 93

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The Utah Jazz complete their pre-season with a perfect 5-0 record after tonight's 39-point win over the Sacramento Kings.

The Jazz have moved the ball well all pre-season and tonight was no different as they dished out 32 assists on 51 made field goals. Shooting 60% from the field didn't hurt either.


They raced out of the gates to and 47-12 lead early in the second quarter and remained in control till the final buzzer. Rudy Gobert did the bulk of the damage with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, before sitting out the second half.

Aussie Joe Ingles had six points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while countryman Dante Exum chipped six points and six assists, including this highlight jam!


Utah had six players score in double figures on the night.

L.A. Clippers 124 Maccabi Haifa 76

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Get excited Canadian fans, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks ready for the season to start!

The no.11 pick in this year's draft had seven points and seven assists in his 16 minutes on court, but he provided the play of the game with this facial dunk over two defenders in the third quarter! 

 


The Clippers were in control of this one early, exploding to a 70-35 lead at half-time. Not satisfied, they came out and won the third quarter 24-7, with every player except Juwan Evans scoring.

Boban Marjanovic led the way with 18 points, while Danillo Gallinari added 12. Montrezl Harrell added 12 on 6-of-7 shooting, in an energised performance off the bench. 

The Clippers open their regular season at home to the Denver Nuggets.

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Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor for The Sporting News.