Jazz Nation Should be Proud of 122-114 Victory Over Blazers
On Thursday night, the Utah Jazz outdueled the Portland Trail Blazers 122-114 while capturing their second win in as many nights. The final score does not indicate how the Jazz dominated this contest, as the Blazers scored garbage points in bunches during the fourth quarter.
Jazz coach Will Hardy allowed his team to play free, along with competitiveness and toughness throughout the night, which the Blazers could not offset. As they did against the New York Knicks, the Jazz were afforded mass team contributions and landed six players with double-digit scoring.
Leading the charge was Collin Sexton's 27 points, four assists, and a red-hot 65% shooting from the field. Simone Fontecchio carried his weight, dropped in 24 points, and grabbed five rebounds in a starting role.
Talen Horton-Tucker also earned a starting role and churned out 23 points, four assists, and a game-high +31 game rating. Ochai Agbaji's helping hand hit for 16 points, and Walker Kessler nearly posted a triple-double with 10 points, 10 boards, seven blocked shots, and four assists.
Notable was how the Jazz's starting line-up all scored positive game ratings, which is important in setting the team's identity for the night. Kelly Olynyk remained solid as a starter, and rookie Taylor Hendricks scored 10 points and snagged seven rebounds. Hendricks logged 25 minutes and is showing the coaching staff he has no desire to return to the G-League.
Jazz Nation should feel proud of this victory.
The Blazers battled back in the fourth quarter and were led by rookie Scoot Henderson's 23 points and 10 assists in a reserve role. Forward Toumani Camara scored 18 points to go with his six rebounds, and Duop Reath scored 15 points in supreme garbage time.
The Jazz are now 9-16, winners of two straight games, and rank 12th of 15 teams in the Western Conference. The Blazers are 6-17. losers of five straight games and rank 14th in the West.
The Jazz will stay on the road to face the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. MST.
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