After such a heartbreaker on Saturday, the Blazers needed to bounce right back with a win against Utah yet again, which can be tough when you have just played that team. The last game against Utah was a laugher and that was with Derrick Favors in the lineup. Tonight’s game was not that big of a laugher as Utah was able to make it interesting in a few spots, but ultimately the Blazers just have more talent right now. The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz 105-94 on Monday night in Utah. This has been yet another place in the NBA that has given the Blazers grief for years, but this seems like the season of breaking these bad records and starting new ones. Just like after losing to Phoenix, the Blazers needed to come back with a win, especially after a heartbreaker where it came down to the last shot. Now, I will go on the record and say that recent Blazer teams would not have won this game. Last season, the Blazers could not, for some reason, clean up the trash so to speak. They would win against a top-5 team, but then give the Washington Wizards their first win after going 0-12 for their first 12 games last season. This team, as we all know by now, is not letting that happen. Every under .500 team the Blazers have faced, they have beaten. It is refreshing and it is necessary for this season to continue to go at this pace.
Tonight’s game started off shaky. Both offenses were missing shots and it was just ugly, ugly basketball. The Jazz have some excuse as their only “stud” is Gordon Hayward who has been a non-factor in both these Utah games and with Derrick Favors out for tonight’s matchup, they basically only had Enes Kanter, Alec Burks, and Jeremy Evans trying to spark an offense. That is gross to say the least. The Blazers, on the other hand, were missing buckets that they normally make and it was almost like repeat of the Dallas game. Wide open threes and jumpers that just wouldn’t hit their mark, but luckily the Utah Jazz are not as good as Dallas. After the first quarter where both teams scored 22 points, I was waiting for the Blazer takeover or the offense to really start rolling. Well, it started to as the Blazers outscored the Jazz 29-23 in the second quarter and in typical Terry Stotts fashion the Blazers outscored the Jazz 26-19 in the third quarter to put the stamp on the game.
The Blazers shot 47% overall and 31% from three going just 6-for-19. This was another night where the threes weren’t falling until there was about 30 seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter and luckily they were needed. However the stat I like is the 19-for-20 from the line. The Blazers are getting to the line and converting. The Dallas game they went 19-for-24. I would like to have those 5 points back, but we are making the majority of our free throws, which is good. I am seeing less and less of the early season struggles from the line and I honestly was expecting that.
Now, the big issue that I am seeing is the defense. In the first couple weeks of the season, the Blazers were really clamping down on defense and won a few games just on defense alone. Now that our offense is 2nd in the league averaging 106.2 points a game right now, the defense seems to be slacking a bit. This is two games now where guards have gone right by Lillard or Wesley and have been able to sneak into the paint with ease.
Real quick I have to commend Batum on his defense in both games against Utah. He has single-handedly taken Gordon Hayward, probably their most potent offensive weapon, completely out of the game. You could even see Hayward’s frustration manifest in mannerisms, throwing of the arms, and in the way he shoots. Even the open shots he got tonight he didn’t hit. Hayward was passing up three point shot attempts and looking to just pass. He did end up getting 17 points, but on 6-for-14 shooting and he didn’t hit a single three.
My point about the defense is that I hope Stotts starts emphasizing that again. The last couple of games have not been the greatest shooting nights and the defense, honestly, cost us the Dallas game (among other things). I am glad the Blazers got the Utah win, but the defense has to be better, especially against another three-point shooting team in Houston coming to the Moda Center Thursday.
LaMarcus Aldridge turned in another stellar performance ending with 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. With Derrick Favors out of the lineup for the Jazz, they had to use 197-pound Jeremy Evans to guard LA. Oh man he abused that matchup and, honestly abused Kanter as he was able to draw fouls and get his offense going. The start of the game was slow for LA, but he had a nice long rest and when he came back in, he swished his first shot and it was lights out from then on.
Robin Lopez was also abusing the undersized big men for the Jazz tonight as he finished with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, 11 rebounds, and 1 block. Lopez was everywhere tonight and he was positioned perfectly for the “Batman to Robin” pick and rolls as we are calling them and was able to, like LA, back down Kanter and Evans to get easy buckets. He was just in the right spots tonight. LA had a slick no-look pass to Lopez who had a wide open lane for an easy two-handed slam during the Blazers run. He was able to hit that short hook of his for some easy early buckets to get the Blazers going in the early slump there were in. He was also just taller than everybody else so he was sucking up a lot of rebounds and giving the Blazers important second-chance opportunities. He was the MVP for me this game as he helped the Blazers to, yet another, successful third quarter run and whenever he was in the game the Jazz just could not score it seemed.
Nicolas Batum is in here, not only because he had a good stat night, but because he wins the freak three of the night award. He ended the night with 7 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds and what was probably the best passing night that I have seen from him. He was making great reads and only committed 2 TOs on the night. However, his biggest accomplishment came in the fourth quarter with 1:28 remaining. The Blazers brought the ball down the court and it was not looking like a good offensive possession in a situation where they desperately needed a bucket. The Jazz were making a nice run and were only down by 5 with 1:28 remaining. It would be tough, but the Jazz had a shot. The shot clock was down 4 seconds when LA finally got the ball on the left block, but I do not think he knew how much was NOT on the clock so he passed out to Batum where he shot a 29-foot three pointer as the shot clock buzzed and swished it. This pretty much sealed up the game and whisked away any sort of hope that the Jazz might have had to win the ball game. It should not have come to that, honestly, but when stuff like that happens you’ll take it. I do not understand these freak three-pointers we keep having. Once a game someone hits a 25-28 three point jumper at just the right time. It is crazy!
Not too much to say about this game overall. Just taking care of business once again and it was good to see the Blazers still play their game even though they had just played this team. There is that fear that the team knows how you play and will be a lot more effective and will maybe steal a game, especially on their home floor. Well, it wasn’t a blowout, which was different. The Blazers get a nice two-day rest before taking on the Houston Rockets at the Moda Center on Thursday at 7:30 PM PST on TNT. This will be a heck of a game and I think the next test for the Blazers as the Rockets gave the Blazers their second loss right before the big winning streak. Let’s get to it. Stay tuned!