The Roundup—Mitchell, Ingles combine for 61 as Jazz hold off Blazers

Playing on national TV in a post-Christmas showdown with the Portland Trail Blazers, the Utah Jazz led from start to finish in a 121-115 victory Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

The ending was closer than Jazz fans were hoping as the Blazers trimmed Utah's 23-point lead down to one before the Jazz shot 5-for-8 from the field—and 6-for-8 from the line—over the final four minutes.

"Our team's coming together. You want it to happen fast, but sometimes it takes a little more time. I think we're finding it," Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said. "We should have won this game not by six, but a lot more. We should've put them away, but they're a great team and hit shots. We'll go back and watch the film and work on it."

Mitchell scored 28 of his team-high 35 points in the second half, while Joe Ingles added 26 points. Rudy Gobert finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and one key block in the closing seconds to help seal the victory.

Bojan Bogdanović (16 points) also scored in double figures in the win for the Jazz (19-12).

"We're picking it up defensively. We struggled in that area a little bit," Mitchell said. "Offensively, we're moving the ball. We're all clicking. We know where to be. That comes with time—we've had some new guys come to the team, and we're trying to figure it out."

All-Star guard Damian Lillard was on fire for the Blazers (14-18), scoring 34 points on 10-for-21 shooting, including 7-for-13 from three, and dishing out a game-high eight assists. Fellow guard CJ McCollum scored 17 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead Portland's comeback.

Second-year guard Anfernee Simons chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in the loss.

Ingles set the nets on fire in the first half, making his first five 3-pointers and scoring 17 of his 26 points before halftime. In all, Ingles shot 10-for-15 from the field (and 6-for-10 from beyond the arc) for 26 points, and he also had five rebounds, four assists and a steal—and one technical foul for taunting.

While Ingles was on fire early on, Mitchell put the team on his back after the break, scoring 28 of his 35 points in the second half—including 10 critical points in the final four-plus minutes after the Blazers had pulled within one. Overall, Mitchell shot 12-for-19 from the field, including 3-for-6 from three, and 8-for-11 from the free thrown line, and he added three rebounds and a season-high seven assists in 38 minutes.

Utah came out and scorched the nets in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers en route to a 37-22 lead after 12 minutes. Ingles made his first five shots for 14 first-quarter points, and Jordan Clarkson, who was traded to Utah from Cleveland in return for Danté Exum earlier this week, made four of his first six shots in his Jazz debut.

Utah led by 10 at halftime and then went on a 14-0 run early in the third quarter to go up by 21. Mitchell dropped in a rain-making baseline jumper and then crossed over and hit nothing but net on a three. Ingles also kept rolling, sinking a running push shot and then a corner three as the Jazz built a 76-55 lead.

Portland, though, went on a 26-7 run to cut Utah's lead down to one midway through the fourth quarter. A floater by Mitchell and driving layup by Ingles put Utah back up by five with just under four minutes left in the game. With Utah up by two, Gobert made what was perhaps the play of the game, diving out of bounds to tap the ball to Bogdanović for a corner three that just beat the shot clock. Lillard immediately drilled an off-balance three to pull Portland back within two, but Mitchell countered with a three of his own. McCollum banked in a runner, but Gobert altered Carmelo Anthony's game-tying 3-point attempt and then swatted away a layup attempt by Lillard as the Jazz hit five free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the victory.

7

Utah shot 7-for-10 from 3-point range in the first quarter, with Ingles (4-for-4), Mitchell (1-for-1), Royce O'Neale (1-for-1) and Georges Niang (1-for-1) finding the bottom of the net from deep.

+26

Portland center Hassan Whiteside entered the night averaging an NBA-best 2.8 blocks per game, but he provided little resistance as the Jazz nearly doubled up the Blazers with a 60-34 advantage in points in the paint.

56.8

The Jazz shot an efficient 56.8 percent for the game, with their starting five—led by Gobert's perfect 7-for-7 night—shooting 61.7 percent.

Mike Conley (hamstring) did not suit up for the Jazz. ... Jusuf Nurkic (leg), Zach Collins (shoulder) and former Jazz guard Rodney Hood (Achilles) remain out for Portland. ... Utah is now 12-3 at home this season. ... Jazz head coach Quin Snyder picked up a technical foul in the fourth quarter. ... There were two dead-ball fouls—one for each team, which resulted in two technical free throws—in the final 20 seconds. ... Portland shot 16-for-25 (64.0 percent) from the field in the fourth quarter, with Lillard and McCollum combining for 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting.

The Jazz will hit the road to face the LA Clippers on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 8:30pm MT.

Utah's next home game is on Monday at 7pm MT against the Detroit Pistons.

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