The Portland Trail Blazers took down the Utah Jazz 135-119 in the final game before the All-Star break. After taking a massive third quarter lead, the Blazers were unable to fully put the Jazz away, allowing them to make it a close game deep into the fourth quarter. However, timely baskets from Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant and Toumani Camara helped Portland put down Utah for good.
The Blazers were led in scoring by Holiday, who had a season-high 31 points. Donovan Clingan had 23 points as the second
leading scorer for Portland.
The Jazz were led by the 25 points of Brice Sensabaugh. Five other Utah players found themselves in double figures, but none scored more than 15 points in a balanced scoring attack.
Player of Note
Donovan Clingan. The big man had himself a game with a 23-point, 18-rebound night. He also recorded a career-high 7 assists in the contest. Clingan has proven time and time again that when an opponent does not have a center in the game, he is unable to be contained near the rim.
His incredible night featured an efficient 8/12 performance from the field and a 7/9 mark from the free throw line. Without Jusuf Nurkic in the middle for the Jazz, there was no one to contest Clingan on the boards which led to a 59-46 advantage on the glass for the Blazers.
Stat of the Night
21-6. After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Jazz take a 63-61 lead into the break, the Blazers came out on fire in the third quarter. They opened the quarter with a massive 21-6 run en route to blowing the game wide open with a 40-23 quarter overall.
The massive run was spearheaded by a 9-point quarter from Jrue Holiday and a 9-rebound effort from Clingan, including 3 offensive boards.
What We Noticed
The Blazers were able to draw six offensive fouls on the Jazz in the game. That contributed to 19 Utah turnovers. Despite Portland turning the ball over 21 times in the game and snagging just 7 steals, the offensive fouls evened out the turnover margin and allowed the Blazers to get momentum at key points in the game.
Those drawn offensive fouls were highlighted by a call on Vince Williams Jr. with nine minutes to play in the second quarter. Williams got called for a foul and when he argued the call, got two technicals and was ejected from the game.
Up Next
The Blazers have a week off for the NBA All-Star break before they are back at home to take on the Denver Nuggets on Friday, Feb. 20 at 7:00 p.m. PST.
