National Basketball Association
Portland 108, Utah 92
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials:
#16 David Guthrie, #32 Marat Kogut, #41 Ken Mauer
Attendance:
19911
By The Sports Xchange
SALT LAKE CITY -- Although Damian Lillard remains highly regarded in Utah for his standout career at Weber State, the Portland Trail Blazers point guard didn't exactly endear himself to the local crowd Wednesday night.
Neither did his backcourt sidekick, C.J. McCollum.
Lillard and McCollum continued their early-season tear, leading the Blazers to a surprising 108-92 victory over the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Lillard put on a show, scoring a season-high 35 points. It was his second consecutive 30-point game.
McCollum complemented him nicely with 27 points as the two outscored Utah's starters.
"It was a huge win for us," Lillard said. "We knew it was opening night (at home) for them and they would come out with a lot of energy. We knew it would be a huge crowd. ... We competed. We played together. It wasn't perfect, but we found a way to get it done."
Portland improved to 3-2, while Utah fell to 2-2 after a successful season-opening road trip.
"These types of games are going to happen to all teams," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "In this particular evening, I know this loss hurts our team, too. This isn't me saying, 'Hey, hey, hey.' Those guys, they're not feeling good right now. They're disappointed. They know they can play better. We're all in that."
Guards Alec Burks (21 points) and Trey Burke (17 points) gave Utah some spark off the bench, but the Jazz only shot 37.5 percent from the floor and were off their game most of the night.
Utah small forward Gordon Hayward scored a team-high 19 points but needed 20 shots and six free throws to reach that total.
"It's unfortunate -- home opener for us. We wanted to play well, new arena (name), blah, blah, blah," Hayward said. "We'll learn from this one. The best thing about the NBA is we play tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get out there (in Denver) and erase this one from our memory."
Power forward Derrick Favors, Utah's leading scorer this season, only had six points on 2-of-7 shooting. Favors, who grabbed 10 rebounds, was questionable leading up to the game due to flu-like symptoms.
Portland's offense wasn't intimidated by Utah's NBA-leading defense, which held its first three opponents to an average of 79.7 points. The Blazers shot 53.2 percent on field-goal attempts and hit 11 of 25 3-pointers.
"It's good to get a road win," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "I liked our energy. Our defense, I thought, was pretty solid. C.J. and Dame made a ton of big shots for us."
Forward Maurice Harkless contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Portland, while starting forward Al-Farouq Aminu added 13 points and eight boards. Center Mason Plumlee grabbed 16 boards to go with 12 points.
Power forward Meyers Leonard left the game in the first half due to an ankle sprain and didn't return.
The Jazz trailed by eight with 5:24 remaining after a Burks bucket.
McCollum answered with a 3-pointer on the Blazers' next possession.
The visitors weren't challenged after that, picking up their second road win in three nights.
Lillard and McCollum both had hot hands to begin the game, combining for 36 points in the first half. Lillard hit three treys in the first two quarters and shot 7-for-12. His new backcourt mate sank all six field-goal attempts, including a buzzer-beater at the end of the second quarter.
That dynamic backcourt performance lifted Portland to a 57-49 lead at halftime.
The Blazers built their lead to 14 in the third quarter before settling for the same eight-point advantage heading into the fourth.
The Jazz appeared to be on the verge of making a comeback attempt early in the fourth quarter, but Lillard and Harkless drained 3-pointers to keep the momentum with Portland. A Plumlee put-back gave Portland an 89-75 lead with 8:37 remaining.
"We were trying everything tonight," Snyder said. "We tried to trap it, tried to switch it. They were good and we weren't. It's kind of where it is. I hate to simplify it to that point."
NOTES: The Jazz changed the name of their building from EnergySolutions Arena to Vivint Smart Home Arena after agreeing to a 10-year deal with the Utah-based home security business. ... SF Elijah Millsap rejoined the Jazz on Wednesday after missing two days of practice to be with his newborn son in Atlanta. ... Portland came into the Northwest Division matchup having won three of four games in Utah. ... PG Damian Lillard is always vocal about his love for alma mater, Weber State, situated 40 miles north of Salt Lake City. His school pride surfaced again this week when he was invited to attend a Portland State game. Lillard was even offered some Vikings gear. His response on Twitter: "Too bad I bleed purple. #WeAreWeber #Wildcatpride #bleedpurple #Keepthatvikingsgear... Lol."
Top Game Performances
Portland |
|
Utah |
Damian Lillard 35 |
Scoring |
Alec Burks 21 |
C.J. McCollum 4 |
Assists |
Rodney Hood 4 |
Mason Plumlee 16 |
Rebounds |
Derrick Favors 10 |
C.J. McCollum 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Alec Burks 11 |
Al-Farouq Aminu 2 |
Steals |
Derrick Favors 4 |
Maurice Harkless 3 |
Blocks |
Rudy Gobert 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Portland
|
108 |
53.2 |
11-25 |
15-32 |
11 |
48 |
7 |
5 |
19 |
Utah
|
92 |
37.5 |
5-24 |
21-33 |
9 |
40 |
8 |
12 |
9 |
Upcoming Games
-
Utah will play their next game on the road against Denver. The Jazz have a W/L % of .333 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
-
Portland will play their next game at home against Memphis. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .667 after a loss.