Utah Jazz: Fes, Evans out for Jazz vs. Raptors tonight

SALT LAKE CITY — Already missing one 6-foot-11 center, the Utah Jazz will be without another 13 feet and 10 inches of big men for tonight's game against the Toronto Raptors.

Center Kyrylo Fesenko and forward Jeremy Evans both were listed as questionable but will not play in the 7 p.m. game at EnergySolutions Arena. Mehmet Okur (left Achilles tendon) remains sidelined for the Jazz.

Fesenko showed up for shootaround but the 7-foot-1 backup big not participate because of gastric distress.

Evans continues to nurse his sprained right wrist, which the 6-foot-9 rookie injured Sunday night at Oklahoma City.

The new-look Raptors (1-2) present some problems for the also revamped Jazz (1-2). Power forward Chris Bosh migrated to Miami, leaving the bulk of the scoring duties to versatile center Andrea Bargnani, a 7-footer whose averaging 23.3 points and who is a threat inside and out.

Toronto also features Linas Kleiza, who's returned to the NBA after a year in Greece. The small forward once dropped 41 points on the Jazz when he played for Denver.

Second-year shooting guard DeMar DeRozan is another offensive weapon.

Though his teams have beaten Toronto 10 times in a row, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan acknowledges this Raptors squad presents some defensive challenges.

"They spread the floor out very well and they put a lot of pressure on your ability to keep them in front of you," Sloan said. "And then they can shoot the ball out there on the perimeter. They'll take some 3-point shots."

One concern for Sloan is how his team's transition defense will shape up. The Jazz, he noted, gave up 22 points on transition in the blowout loss to Phoenix in their last home game but only allowed 11 transition points in their big win at Oklahoma City.

"We've got to be able to handle that transition," Sloan said. "A lot of that has to do with how we are on offense, what kind of shots we take and how many we make so we can control the transition baskets."

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