The good vibes keep on rolling for the Portland Trail Blazers. On Monday night at the Moda Center, those vibes came through in a much more emphatic, unusual way: a blowout 137-117 win over the Utah Jazz.
After sweating it out in 23 clutch-time games this season, tied for second most in the NBA, Monday’s win almost looked like a spa day for Portland by comparison. It marked just the Blazers’ sixth double-digit win of the season and their first 20-point win since Oct. 24. It also marked Portland’s third straight win and fifth win of their last six games — a testament to the group’s burgeoning chemistry and newfound rhythm after facing harsh lows earlier this season.
The Blazers’ 137 points featured 32 assists, 19 3-pointers, 52.7% shooting from the field, and seven players reaching double-figures. That production revolved around Blazers All-Star candidate Deni Avdija, who produced another monster stat line with an efficient 33 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe bounced back from a tough performance by adding 29 points (on 11-19 shooting), seven assists and great defensive energy. And two-way contract players Sidy Cissoko and Caleb Love again showed their value, scoring 14 points apiece while Cissoko provided his usual hustle and defensive hounding.
All that offense meant lots of highlights: Two sky scraping Sharpe alley oops. Two Sharpe fadeaway 3-pointers to beat the first and third quarter buzzers. Alley oops for Kris Murray and Robert Williams III. A right-hand dunk by Love that had him flexing. Savvy dribble moves by Avdija and Cissoko that put defenders on skates and had the crowd reacting in ooos and ahhhs.
The Blazers led by as many as 32 points in the third quarter. Then they got to give Avdija, the NBA leader in total minutes played this season, some rare rest by allowing him to sit the entire fourth quarter. All in all, a pretty good night at home.
“I won’t say any win is comfortable because you’ve got to work for it, but we came very sharp today,” Avdija said. “And we didn’t give them a chance to come back into the game, which was progress. And I think it was so fun to play today because we were just sharing the ball. We were playing defense. We were communicating. Everybody was touching it. It just feels good to win in that way.”
Here are more soundbites from Monday night’s postgame interviews.
Coach Tiago Splitter
Splitter on if he was able to enjoy this win more because of Portland’s large lead for most of the night:
“Right now when I go to the locker room and I have a beer, that’s it. That’s when I enjoy [myself],” Splitter said, later revealing that drink of choice would be an IPA. “In the game, you’re trying to see the clock, time, timeout situation, players’ minutes, minutes restrictions, who can play, who can not, what can we do to create offense, so those are the things that you’re thinking of.”
On how nice it was to give Avdija some fourth-quarter rest:
“[It was] important. He’s the guy who has played the most minutes for us, by far, and having him off there was good for him — kinda like a fourth quarter off, that’s not bad.”
On what he liked about Sharpe’s performance:
“I felt like last game, he wasn’t himself, and today he was very aggressive on both ends. I’m impressed with how his defense was today. He was fighting, rebounding, pushing the ball, finding teammates, seven assists, so great game by Shae today.”
Deni Avdija
Avdija on what he liked most about the win:
“The chemistry. Even though we’re winning games and we won some games before, I feel like now, we still have a lot of key players missing, but I feel like we just found a groove. Everybody was next man up. He gives 100%. We understand our roles, and we’re doing a great job communicating on the court.”
On if the Blazers, who are now ninth in the West, have a chance to make a surge in the standings with seven of their next nine at home:
“Definitely. I think we’re competitive. We’re in close games, and we have tough opponents coming in but I know we’re ready. We’re getting better every game, so that’s fun, and I think we gotta look at ourselves and, regardless of if we’re playing away or home, just believe in our progress and just keep building.”
Donovan Clingan
Clingan finished the game with 12 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a 2-4 shooting mark from beyond the 3-point arc. He discussed what it’s been like to see his 3-point shooting take off lately:
“It just shows all the work that I put in and all the work I continue to put in throughout the season, and really just finding the confidence to go out there every night and let it fly.”
Toumani Camara
Camara finished with 15 points (on 5-12 shooting), four rebounds, three assists and a steal. He discussed what Monday night’s win showed about the team:
“I feel like our focus was really high. We shared the ball at a high rate today. Everybody was able to see the ball go in. And defensively, I think we were very connected. Whether it was on the rotation, on the gaps, communication and everything was high, even in the timeouts. So I think it was a good game overall to show what we can do not only by just making shots but also how connected we can be as a team and how good we can be in the future.”
