The Portland Trail Blazers started a new winning streak in NBA action tonight, outplaying the Utah Jazz 135-119. Crafty Jrue Holiday led the way with 31 points in a masterful performance to negate the 28 points from Utah\u2019s Brice Sensabaugh. The Blazers are heading into the All-Star break with four wins in their last five games and a 26-29 record, good for 9th place in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
Following are a few observations:<\/p>\n
No Deni, No Shae, No Problem<\/p>\n
The Blazers started the game tonight with almost 50 points sitting on the sideline in the form of Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe, so scoring could have been a challenge. It didn\u2019t turn out that way. Seven Blazers landed in double figures with Jrue\u2019s 31 on top. The others were Donovan Clingan (23), Jerami Grant (18), Toumani Camara (14), Scoot Henderson (15), Vit Krejci (11) and Caleb Love (11).<\/p>\n
The Blazers showed the beauty of their old guy\/new kid dynamic at point guard. Scoot is still rounding into form after missing almost all of the season with a hamstring injury, and it showed with a mixed bag tonight. He scored 15 points with 4 assists, but also added 6 turnovers. No problem. Jrue was on hand to restore order when needed, scoring via a very efficient 10 for 15 from the field and 4 for 8 from the parking lot with 9 rebounds, 7 assists and only a single turnover.<\/p>\n
The Blazers had a blockbuster third quarter to break this game open, outscoring the Jazz by 17 points after a forgettable first half. For long stretches, everyone seemed to forget that Donovan Clingan was clearly bigger than everyone else on the floor. When the Blazers did remember, he came through with 23 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks.<\/p>\n
The competition began tonight well before tipoff. The Blazers put up an impressive injury report: Shaedon Sharpe, Kris Murray, Matisse Thybulle, Damian Lillard, Deni Advija and Robert Williams III were all ruled out. The Jazz responded with Jaren Jackson Jr., Lauri Markannen, Keyonte George and Elijah Harkless on their list. Advantage: whichever team\u2019s remaining troops came to play, which turned out to be the Jazz in the first half and the Blazers in the second.<\/p>\n
The NBA came up with an answer to this question earlier in the day, hitting the Jazz with a $500,000 fine for sitting their two best players, Markannen and Jackson, in the final quarter of the two previous contests. Former Blazer and native Oregonian Danny Ainge, General Manager of the Jazz, certainly wouldn\u2019t be trying to tank already, would he? Not according to Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who reportedly said he respectfully \u201cagrees to disagree.\u201d Meanwhile, the Jazz lost their 38th game and remain lodged at #13 in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n