PORTLAND — After nine days at home, the Trail Blazers crossed the halfway point of the season with a 99-85 win over the Utah Jazz and crept up closer on the Western Conference playoff race.
The Blazers are 1 1/2 games behind the Jazz for the eighth and final playoff seed and they guaranteed at least a split of the season series with the win.
Damian Lillard sniffed a triple-double but didn’t get there, finishing with 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, playing well for the third game in a row.
The Jazz led after the first quarter but were dominated in the middle quarters, leaving little doubt what the result would be with plenty of time left in the game.
The most interesting unknowns in the game were if Lillard would get his first career triple-double and how long Terry Stotts would keep on his scarf, as it was Timbers night at the Moda Center as they celebrated the 2015 MLS Champions.
“He just came off the plantar fasciitis, it messes with the rotation if they make a run, I didn’t want to risk that,” Stotts said. “If it had been one or two rebounds, I probably would have left him in.”
Stotts took off the scarf before pre-game intros and after the game he tipped his cap to the Blazers defense for putting together a strong performance in a season where they haven’t had many.
“I was really pleased with our defense tonight,” Stotts said. “I’d have to go back over all the games, but I think it was one of our better games as far as being aggressive.”
And after the game with Stotts in a good mood after the win, he punctuated the official theme of the night.
“Hashtag R-C-T-I-D,” Stotts said as he exited his post-game presser, referring to the Timbers’ slogan “Rose City ‘Til I Die.”
The Blazers forced 14 Jazz turnovers on the night, but had 11 of those in the first half.
Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood each had pretty solid statistical performances, but the Jazz as a unit couldn’t get anything going offensively.
Making matters worse for the Jazz, reserve wing Chris Johnson left the game with an intestinal illness, leaving them with Joe Ingles as their only other healthy wing player aside from Hood and Hayward.
Utah’s starting power forward Derrick Favors missed his 11th consecutive game with back spasms.
But Portland likely would not have had a lead to begin with had it not received a boost from their bench.
Meyers Leonard also chipped in 12 points and four rebounds, despite fouling out in 26 minutes.
Gerald Henderson also had 12 points, Allen Crabbe chipped in 11 points of his own and Ed Davis had 12 rebounds.
Al-Farouq Aminu also had several highlight plays, including four blocks to go along with 10 poitns and seven rebounds.
“I thought his defense was terrific on Hayward, particularly the first quarter,” Stotts said. “They both played the whole first quarter and I thought he really took the challenge and did a good job.”
If there is a concern with the Jazz and their playoff hopes, other than injuries that have hurt them already, it’s their weak bench which was exposed by the Blazers.
Lillard was even better in the third quarter, where he led the Blazers to a 34-point quarter, which helped the Blazers build a 15-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
McCollum did an excellent job of running the team to start the fourth quarter and as a result, the Blazers extended the lead and got some rest for Lillard ahead of an upcoming Eastern Conference road trip.
The three-game trip begins Friday in Brooklyn against the Nets.
