SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Jrue Holiday scored a season-high 31 points and Donovan Clingan added 23 points and 18 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers beat Utah 135-119 on Thursday night — hours after the Jazz lost Jaren Jackson Jr. to knee surgery and were fined $500,000 by the NBA for sitting healthy stars.
Clingan also had a career-high seven assists and three blocks. Holiday had nine rebounds and seven assists to lead Portland (27-29) to its fourth
victory in five games.
Jerami Grant added 18 points and Scoot Henderson scored 15 in his fourth game this season.
Brice Sensabaugh had 28 points while Ace Bailey, Kyle Filipowski and Isaiah Collier each scored 15 for Utah (18-38).
In his first NBA game, Utah two-way player Blake Hinson scored 11 points and hit a 3-pointer to pull the Jazz to 111-108. But the Blazers responded with an 11-2 run capped by Holiday's layup to clinch the win.
Clingan sparked a 10-0 spurt with dominating play on both ends to give the Trail Blazers a 75-65 lead. Portland outscored the short-handed Jazz 40-23 in the third quarter to take control.
Jackson, who led the Jazz to a 2-1 record since arriving from Memphis in a trade last week, did not play. In a post-trade physical exam, Jackson was diagnosed with a benign growth in his left knee and will have surgery next week.
Lauri Markkanen sat out to rest on the second game of a back-to-back, and Keyonte George was sidelined with a sprained right ankle. Earlier in the day, the NBA fined Utah $500,000 for not playing Markkanen and Jackson in the fourth quarter of games at Orlando and Miami. The Jazz beat the Heat 115-111 on Monday without their stars.
The bench got even shorter for Utah when Vince Williams Jr., who arrived with Jackson from Memphis, got two technicals with 8:59 left until halftime and was ejected. Oscar Tshiebwe then received stitches above his eye after getting elbowed in the first quarter and entered concussion protocol. Rotation regulars Kevin Love and Jusuf Nurkic were healthy but did not play.
The Trail Blazers were missing their top two scorers as well with Deni Avdija (back) and Shaedon Sharpe (calf) unavailable.
Portland hosts Denver on Friday, Feb. 20.
Utah visits Memphis on Feb. 20.
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