The Portland Trail Blazers are out to complete a four-game season sweep of the visiting Utah Jazz when the teams match up Friday night.
Portland averaged 136 points in the first three meetings, including a 20-point home victory on Jan. 5 and a 16-point road win on Feb. 12. The Trail Blazers also won by two on Oct. 29 in Salt Lake City.
Portland could use a victory as a five-game road trip awaits. The Trail Blazers are in 10th place in the Western Conference, just 1 1/2 games behind the Golden State Warriors and 2 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers.
Portland has just 16 games remaining, adding a sense of urgency.
“We’ve got the players to do it,” veteran forward Jerami Grant said. “We’ve just gotta come together. Now that mostly everybody’s healthy, we should be able to string together some wins in these upcoming weeks.”
The Trail Blazers missed an opportunity Tuesday when they led the visiting Charlotte Hornets by 19 points in the second quarter before eventually losing 103-101.
Portland forward Toumani Camara felt the Trail Blazers were their own worst enemy in blowing the big lead.
“Everything was under our control,” Camara said. “I feel like we had some stupid turnovers, couldn’t make shots, but you know, that happens. (We could’ve) controlled the pace a little bit better. I feel like we let them kinda creep up on us a little too easily. I feel like we didn’t really put up a fight like we should’ve.”
Grant scored 24 points and Deni Avdija added 22 to lead Portland.
Backup Scoot Henderson had 17 points and made five 3-pointers for his second straight big performance. He had a season-best 28 points in Sunday’s 131-111 rout of the visiting Indiana Pacers.
The Jazz are beginning a three-game road trip that includes stops in Sacramento and Minnesota.
Utah has split its last four games, falling 134-117 to the visiting New York Knicks on Wednesday.
The Jazz came out firing and led 41-26 after the opening quarter but their defense was missing in action the rest of the way as New York scored 108 points over the final three quarters. The Knicks outscored Utah 78-52 in the second half.
“Sort of a tale of two halves,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “We came out to start the game and couldn’t be hotter, so we dictated the tempo. In the second half, they got hot and we had to start playing more against a set defense and it hurt us.”
Brice Sensabaugh made a season-best six 3-pointers and scored 29 points for Utah. It was his straight solid performance as he scored 21 points in Monday’s 119-116 home victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Sensabaugh is averaging 20.3 points over the last four games.
Rookie Ace Bailey added 21 points against New York and has excelled in two of his past three games. Bailey had 32 against the Washington Wizards on March 5 but just nine two nights later versus the Milwaukee Bucks before missing the Golden State game due to illness.
Standout guard Keyonte George could be sitting out Friday after leaving in the third quarter against the Knicks due to a right hamstring injury.
George had 14 points in 20 minutes before exiting. He averages 23.6 points and 6.1 assists per game.
Utah has dropped five of the last six meetings with the Trail Blazers.
–Field Level Media
