After three straight losses, the Utah Jazz got just what they needed as the team heads into the All-Star break—a 111-88 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz (35-22) outscored the Blazers 71-51 in the second half to pull away for the victory.
Gordon Hayward led the way with team highs in points (22) and assists (seven), while Rudy Gobert added 13 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
George Hill (19 points), Joe Ingles (18 points), Joe Johnson (13 points) and Danté Exum (12 points) also scored in double figures in the win.
C.J. McCollum scored a team-high 18 points for the Blazers (23-33). Damian Lillard finished with only 13 points on 3-for-19 shooting.
Wednesday's Best
Ingles was huge for the Jazz tonight, putting pressure on the Blazers on both ends with 18 points and four steals. He shot 4-for-6 from 3-point range and added four rebounds, four assists and a block in 32 minutes.
Key Stretches
After a rough-shooting first quarter, Utah kickstarted its offense through some tough defense. Hayward hustled back on D and forced Allen Crabbe to miss a transition layup, which led to a corner three by Ingles. A layup by Hayward and 3-pointer by Alec Burks gave Utah a 35-25 lead midway through the second quarter. A layup by Gobert and three-point play by Hill pushed Utah's lead to 14.
Portland went on a 15-0 run to take a one-point lead early in the second half, but threes by Hayward, Ingles, Hill and Hayward (again) got Utah going. Gobert hit nothing but net on a tear-drop runner, and a transition layup by Hill gave Utah a 13-point lead midway through the third quarter. Johnson capped the quarter with a three from the wing to maintain Utah's double-digit lead heading into the final period.
Significant Stats
8
The Jazz caught fire from outside in the second half, connecting on 8 of their 10 3-point attempts after halftime. The Jazz drilled four threes in the first five minutes of the third quarter, and then Ingles and Johnson hit consecutive threes to give Utah a 16-point lead midway through the fourth.
28.9
The Jazz held Portland's high-scoring duo of Lillard (3-for-19) and McCollum (8-for-19) to only 31 points—19 below their combined season average— on 11-for-38 (28.9 percent) shooting.
Coach's Quote of the Night
Notable
Before the game, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey presented Hayward with his All-Star jersey. During the game, Hayward passed Deron Williams into eighth place on Utah's all-time scoring list. ... Utah outscored Portland 58-32 in the paint. ... The Jazz only allowed six points off their 14 turnovers. They converted Portland's 17 turnovers into 18 points. ... Jusuf Nurkic had 13 points and seven rebounds in his first game since he was traded to Portland from Denver. ... The Jazz shot 65.9 percent from the field in the second half.
Up Next
The Jazz will be off for the All-Star break until February 24 when they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MT, and the game will be televised on ROOT SPORTS.
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