The Portland Trail Blazers are traveling to take on the Utah Jazz for the third and final game of Portland’s early season road trip. This game comes after a split with the Los Angeles teams to start the stretch.
The Blazers are sitting at 2-2 to start the season and looking to jump above .500 with a win over the NBA’s worst team from the 2024-25 season.
However, the Jazz will be looking to build on their surprising 2-1 start to the year. They have earned wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns so far, and their lone loss was by just one point to the Sacramento Kings. Lauri Markkanen has led the charge for Utah, currently averaging 34.7 points per game and coming off of a 51-point performance in his last contest.
What You Need to Know
Portland Trail Blazers (2-2) vs. Utah Jazz (2-1) – Wed. Oct. 29 – 6pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
Trail Blazers injuries: Robert Williams III, Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard (out); Matisse Thybulle (questionable)
Jazz injuries: Isaiah Collier, Georges Niang (out), Jusuf Nurkic (questionable)
SB Nation Affiliate: SLC Dunk
What to Watch For
Playing With Pace: The Blazers have been pushing the pace and getting out in transition to start the year. Through the first week of the NBA, Portland ranks fifth in pace and averages 11.8 steals per game, which is first in the league. On the other side, the Jazz rank 26th in pace. Which team is able to control the tempo will force the other off their normal gameplan. The Blazers’ ability to force turnovers and get easy baskets in transition will be a major asset in this game if they are able to take care of the ball on the offensive side. Otherwise Utah might be able to slow down the game just enough to keep themselves in the driver’s seat.
Rebounding Battle. The Jazz rank first in offensive rebounds per game, 17.3, and in total rebounds, 53.3. Conversely, Portland ranks 7th in offensive rebounds at 13.5 per game, but just 21st in total rebounds with 42.0. If Jusuf Nurkic does not suit up, that’s a major player missing for Utah’s efforts on the glass. However, Markkanen, Walker Kessler and Kyle Filipowski all still eclipse five rebounds per game for the Jazz and could prove difficult to handle for a Portland team that has played a lot of small ball lineups to start the year.
What Others Are Saying
Calvin Barrett of SLC Dunk highlights the massive improvement Keyonte George has shown in his playmaking skills:
His playmaking chops are astonishing this year, tallying nearly ten dimes per contest. Will Hardy has Keyonte leading the offense for 35 minutes per night this year, and with that, he’s been sprinkling the sugar in every which way. With the ball in his hands, George has played spring-loaded. He’s perpetually poised to snap into any direction, and a tight control over his dribble has him penetrating the defense and swirling the opposition in every way he deems suitable. A crossover, drop step, rocket launch past the first line of resistance forces a rotation, that rotation shifts the entire defense, and suddenly, the possession is putty in Keyonte’s hand.
The Salt Lake Tribune’s Andy Larsen talks about the differences between this Jazz team and previous iterations.
Guys who were previously defensive non-entities are now significantly contributing on that side of the ball. Keyonte George’s effort is night and day from what he gave for most of last season. Brice Sensabaugh has visibly slimmed down and competes more on that end. One contributing factor: The Jazz are being much more schematically aggressive than they were last season. On many screens, they’re having Kessler jump up higher to defend the point of attack, trying to force the ballhandler into passing. Then, the team has multiple defenders in the paint to prevent the easy basket at the rim.
