The Portland Trail Blazers’ road success will be put to the test again when they tip off a four-game trip with an afternoon affair Saturday against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
Portland also will be dealing with the beginning of an extended absence for point guard Ja Morant, who sustained a Grade 2 left hamstring strain during Thursday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Morant will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
The Trail Blazers swept a two-game tour of California when they won 128-120 in Sacramento against the Kings last Friday and 136-129 in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Tuesday.
They have since dropped their first game of the season — 124-103 at home to the Grizzlies — and now return to the road, where they also will see the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and Lakers for a second time, all by next Friday.
Guard play, which had carried the Trail Blazers to their 3-0 start, let the team down at both ends of the court Thursday, head coach Micah Nori said after the loss to Memphis.
Morant, Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday, who had combined to average 52.0 points on 51.0% shooting in the three wins, totaled just 29 points on 11-for-34 shooting (32.4%) against the Grizzlies. They also combined for just 10 total rebounds as the Trail Blazers were outrebounded for the first time this season.
“The disconcerting part was the fact that we let the fact that we weren’t making shots get into lapses on the rebounding and not boxing out,” Nori said. “Donovan (Clingan) is down there working. We have to get some smalls more involved.”
Morant left the game with 7:46 remaining in the fourth quarter shortly after feeling a twinge in his left hamstring. He was examined on the sideline and quickly ruled out.
Having lost three in a row — all at home — the Jazz are in worse shape physically. They will continue to be without Jaren Jackson Jr. (torn MCL in right knee) and Jusuf Nurkic (partial plantar-plate tear in second toe of right foot), while Lauri Markkanen remains a question mark after sitting out Wednesday’s 117-111 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs with a sprained right wrist.
Utah will need to rely heavily on leading scorer Keyonte George (24.4 points per game) and leading rebounder Ace Bailey (8.0).
Despite greater competition for playing time with the additions of Jackson, Jaxson Hayes and Darryn Peterson, Jazz coach Will Hardy has been impressed with the improvement of Bailey in his second season.
“He’s really carrying out his role,” Hardy said to reporters about Bailey, who averaged just 4.2 rebounds last season. “He’s trying to contribute to winning on both sides of the ball. He has to be a cutter and crasher when the ball doesn’t find him. It’s dirty work and he’s embraced doing that over and over again.”
The afternoon affair will end a five-game homestand for Utah, which began the run with its only win of the season, 120-119 over New Orleans. The Jazz’s three subsequent home defeats have come by a total of just 20 points, including the overtime loss to San Antonio.
Portland swept the four-game season series last year, running up 124, 135, 136 and 137 points. Holiday averaged 27.7 points on 63.8% shooting in his three appearances against Utah.
–Field Level Media
