Portland’s rookie got a chance to shine.
The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Utah Jazz 127-115 to end a lengthy six-game losing streak in which they plummeted the Western Conference rankings.
The Blazers rode a scorching second quarter and a strong fourth quarter to a double-digit win.
The Blazers were led by an even scoring attack, with four players finishing with 20 or more points. Damian Lillard had 30, Shaedon Sharpe 24, Trendon Watford 21 and Jusuf Nurkic 20.
The Utah Jazz were a one-man show for much of the game, led by Lauri Markkanen, who had 40 points tonight. He was followed by Kris Dunn with 15 points, and no other jazz player had 13.
If you missed the game, read our instant round-up here.
Now for some observations about the game:
The new look starters
With Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant both missing out on this contest, the Blazers turned to Shaedon Sharpe and Trendon Watford to fill in the gaps on the starting lineup. The two young players showed that they can perform when it counts.
Sharpe started his first game since late November, and he argued it shouldn’t have taken so long before he was reinstated. He had a career-high 24 points, a career-high four steals, and a career-high nine rebounds. He also added two assists and a couple of highlight dunks for good measure. He also finished at a game high of +28 plus/minus
Watford made his best impression of Jerami Grant on offense where he had an efficient 21 points on September 16 from the field. He nearly doubled with nine rebounds and five assists. He also added a steal and two blocks to help the Blazers’ defense. He looked electric on the pitch and led to many positive outcomes for possessions with his passing.
No answer for Markkanen
The Blazers fought all night to slow down Lauri Markkanen. First time All-Star finished with 40 points on just 23 shots. He also added 12 rebounds to aid the Jazz effort on the board.
However, the Blazers eventually seemed to accept that Markkanen would get what he wanted and focused on making sure no one else could help him. Only three other Jazz players made double digits, and all three shot worse than 50% from the field to get there. The Blazers bet the rest of the Jazz couldn’t win the game for them, and they were right.
Bounces from unusual sources
The Blazers were out-rebounded 47-43 in that contest, but Nurkic only had four of them. In general, such a low rebound performance from Nurkic spells disaster on the boards for the Blazers. However, Lillard, Sharpe and Watford were able to pick up more than their fair share. The three finished with seven, nine, and nine rebounds, respectively. Kevin Knox came into the action with five of his own players off the bench, a highlight for him in his tenure with the Blazers.
For the Jazz, Walker Kessler finished just five rebounds, despite averaging over ten rebounds as a starter. The Blazers were able to force the Jazz to change their regular schedule. Luckily for Jazz, they launched two other big men who could make the difference. Lauri Markkanen had 12 and Kelly Olynyk had 10 to show why they are one of the best rebound teams in the league.
ball care
The Blazers have been struggling in revenue so far this year and rank in the bottom half of the league in TOs per game. Tonight, however, they only turned the ball eight times. This is even more impressive considering the Blazers had 28 assists in the game. The Blazers looked after the ball but still kept it moving and got good shots.
They were able to narrow down jazz’s easy opportunities while capitalizing on their own chances. The Blazers forced 17 turnovers and turned them into 17 turnover points. No Blazer player had more than two turnovers and it was easy to see what the lack of this sloppy play entailed. The Jazz’s transition chances were limited to just 11 points on the fast break, compared to the Blazers’ 18.
A great second quarter
The Blazers went into the second quarter five behind. They went into halftime at 12. The Blazers scored 39 points and only allowed 22 to open the game wide. 15/23 shots from the field during the quarter and turning the ball only twice meant many possessions ended in points. The Jazz never fully recovered from the backlog they allowed in that quarter. They came close a couple of times, including leveling the game late in the third, but the cushion the Blazers had allowed them to answer whatever the Jazz threw at them for the whole game.
Next
box score
The Blazers take on the Chicago Bulls at the Moda Center to start a five-game home game. The game takes place on Friday, March 24th and ends at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
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