Blog: Jazz 2-0 In Tournament Play With Win Over Trail Blazers
Nov 14, 2023, 9:16 PM | Updated: Nov 15, 2023, 11:51 am
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz moved to 2-0 in In-Season Tournament Play with a 115-99 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jerami Grant led Portland with 26.
First Quarter
An active start for Ochai Agbaji scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in the first three minutes of the first quarter.
Keyonte George made an effort to get to the free-throw line in the first quarter after his rough shooting night in Memphis. That’s a good way for a scorer to get on track early in the game.
John Collins with ANOTHER highlight alley-oop slam 😤#TakeNote https://t.co/GCeDmCN56u
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 15, 2023
John Collins threw down his second ridiculous dunk in as many games catching a poorly thrown alley-oop from Jordan Clarkson for the one-handed throw-down.
Clarkson had 14 first quarter points on a perfect 6-6 shooting to go with two steals and an assist.
After one the Jazz led the Trail Blazers 36-28.
Second Quarter
The Trail Blazers appeared to have wrestled away the Jazz’s turnover issues. In the first 15 minutes of the game the Trail Blazers had five turnovers to the Jazz’s zero, all live ball steals.
Collin Sexton had a terrific first half recording ten points, three assists, and a steal.
George had a really bad transition defensive possession earlier this year and Sexton got off the bench and showed him how to draw a charge.
Travis Scott 🤝 @utahjazz #TakeNote #TravisScott https://t.co/AF37Ez5MLq
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 15, 2023
Against Portland, George blew up a two-on-one fast break by drawing a charge, and Sexton was the first player off the bench to high five to him.
At the half the Jazz led the Trail Blazers 67-58.
Third Quarter
The Blazers opened the third quarter well cutting the Jazz lead to as few as four in the opening four minutes.
Lauri Markkanen had one of his worst shooting nights of the season connecting on just 4-13, including 1-7 from three for 12 points.
Jerami Grant poured in 12 points for the Trail Blazers in the third as the Jazz had no answer for the Portland forward.
After a slow start, the Jazz finished the third quarter strong and maintained their nine point lead over the Trail Blazers 95-86 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
The Trail Blazers opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run to trim the Jazz lead to two 90 seconds into the fourth.
Markkanen finally broke out with a one-man seven-zero run to rebuild the Jazz’s lead to 13 with 7:19 left in the fourth.
The @utahjazz beat the @trailblazers 115-99.
Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz with 30, while Markkanen poured in 21. #takenote pic.twitter.com/uPNPeSbaua
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 15, 2023
George scored a career-high 15 points including two clutch baskets in the fourth quarter to keep the Trail Blazers at bay.
Between the 11 minute mark and the 5:40 mark the Jazz outscored Portland 13-0.
The Jazz beat the Trail Blazers 115-99.
Are you on Threads yet? Let’s connect, give us a follow @kslsports.
Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.
