“Not Like We Have Steph Curry….”: Darko Rajakovic Hilariously Goes off Raptors Struggles After Jazz Heartbreak

Published 12/23/2023, 10:26 PM EST

The Toronto Raptors engaged in a hard-fought battle that ended in heartbreak against the Utah Jazz. The Raptors, who have lost a lot of their touch and players from their championship era are somewhat in their rebuilding phase, with new players coming in and even a new head coach.

After the loss to the Utah Jazz, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had a few things to say about the team. Trying to find the silver lining in the loss, Rajakovic amusingly takes a Stephen Curry jab at his team.

Raptors coach uses Stephen Curry’s dominance to justify team’s struggles

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The Raptors fell short to the Utah Jazz, losing the game 126-119. An evenly fought game for the first three quarters quickly changed pace in the fourth when Utah put their foot on the pedal and outscored Toronto in the final quarter.

After the game, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had the opportunity to talk to the media. Amid all the questions and where the Raptors are heading this year, he went on to talk about the performance of the team in the second half.

According to Raptors analyst Blake Murphy, when asked about switching up lineups, Rajakovic had this to say. “Change lineups? “What? How? Why? Who? We can mix up rotations…it’s not like we have Steph Curry on the bench (and not playing him).”

Change lineups? “What? How? Why? Who? We can mix up rotations…it’s not like we have Steph Curry on the bench (and not playing him)”
(Paraphrase): It’s not about lineups, the same people were in the court in the first half and second half. “Are those (lineup changes) cosmetics?”
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) December 24, 2023

Going into the half, the Raptors had a substantial 16-point lead over the Jazz. If played right, the Raptors could’ve just kept some of that pressure on Utah and run away with the win after the final buzzer.

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But instead, due to Toronto’s negligence, the Jazz were able to make a huge comeback and turn the game around, winning it by a seven-point margin in the end.

Raptors’ head coach tries unorthodox methods to improve team

The Toronto Raptors seemed confident going into the locker room at halftime. But their head coach had a feeling that he needed to do a few things in a better manner to keep the game in their favor.

Darko Rajakovic also had that same feeling while the team was going into the break ahead of Christmas time. As per Blake Murphy, “Heading into break, Darko told team he’s going to look in the mirror to see what he can do better, and he thinks every coach and player needs to do the same.”

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Heading into break, Darko told team he’s going to look in the mirror to see what he can do better, and he thinks every coach and player needs to do the same. “Healthy for us to think about what we can do different and better when we come back.”
(And family time)
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) December 24, 2023

This loss marks the third straight game that the Raptors have lost, making their season record 11-18. If lineup changes cannot make much of a difference, should the Raptors look to trade and acquire a few pieces?

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Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best” - Tim Duncan said this once, and I took it as a sign to keep working on myself, without fail! Being a basketball player all my life, it was natural for me to eventually become an NBA writer at EssentiallySports.

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“Not Like We Have Steph Curry….”: Darko Rajakovic Hilariously Goes off Raptors Struggles After Jazz Heartbreak

Raptors coach uses Stephen Curry’s dominance to justify team’s struggles

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Raptors’ head coach tries unorthodox methods to improve team