Game Thread GAME# 51: BLAZERS @ JAZZ - APRIL 8, 2021 - THURSDAY, 7:00, NBCSNW

[Darkwebs]

2020-21 REGULAR SEASON RECORD
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
30 - 20
(15-10 Road)
UTAH JAZZ
38 - 12
(22-2 Home)


_____________________________
---------PROBABLE STARTERS---------

PG

DAMIAN LILLARD VS MIKE CONLEY

SG

C.J. McCOLLUM VS DONOVAN MITCHELL

SF

NORMAN POWELL VS ROYCE O'NEALE

PF

ROBERT COVINGTON VS BOJAN BOGDANOVIC

C

JUSUF NURKIC VS RUDY GOBERT




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------- JERSEYS -------

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WHEN: 7:00 PM (PDT), THURSDAY, 4/8/2021

WHERE: VIVINT SMART HOME ARENA, SALT LAKE CITY, UT

TV BROADCAST:

RADIO BROADCAST:

​

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--------------BENCH--------------
- PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS -

SIMONS , BLEVINS

ELLEBY , LITTLE , JONES Jr.

ANTHONY , GILES III , KANTER


------ UTAH JAZZ------

CLARKSON , THOMAS , FORREST

ONI , HUGHES , INGLES

NIANG , MORGAN , BRANTLEY

ILYASOVA , FAVORS



INJURIES
TRAIL BLAZERS
Nassir Little (sprained right thumb): QUESTIONABLE
Zach Collins (left ankle stress fracture): OUT
JAZZ
Juwan Morgan (left calf tightness): QUESTIONABLE
Udoka Azubuike (severe right ankle sprain): OUT



HEAD COACHES

- VS –

TERRY STOTTS --- QUIN SNYDER

OFFICIAL JAZZ'S GAME NOTES
OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

• The Trail Blazers April 8 game against the Jazz will be the second matchup between Portland and Utah this season. The Jazz lead the season series, 1-0.

• LAST MEETING: The Jazz won the sole matchup thus far this season, 120-100, in both team's season opener on Dec. 23. CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 23 points (7-19 FG, 3-8 3-PT, 6-6 FT), four rebounds, three assists and one block. Rudy Gobert paced the Jazz with 20 points (8-10 FG, 4-6 FT), 17 rebounds, two assists and one steal.

• Carmelo Anthony added 15 points (5-12 FG, 5-6 FT), four rebounds and one steal.

• Jusuf Nurkic had 13 points (5-9 FG, 1-2 3-PT, 2-2 FT), three rebounds, three assists and one steal in 22 minutes against Utah in the season opener.

• Donovan Mitchell finished with 20 points (6-16 FG, 4-10 3-PT, 4-4 FT), three rebounds, five assists and one steal on Dec. 23 at Portland.

• HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY:
ALL TIME: Jazz lead, 105-88
PORTLAND HOME: Trail Blazers lead, 65-32
UTAH HOME: Trail Blazers lead, 73-23

 

[Darkwebs]

The Jazz are playing that string music by hitting their 3-pointers this season. They have the most 3-point makes and attempts, while shooting the 2nd highest 3-point %, which has been a major factor in their winning formula this season.

Utah has the best home record in the entire NBA this season, so this will be the biggest test the Blazers have faced this season. Surprise me, Blazers. I dare ya.

 

[Chris Craig]

Loss

 

[KSF-ERIC]

20 point Blazer win if Nurk plays.

 

[blazerkor]

This is a tough match up for us but I'm hoping for a competitive game.

I think the Jazz get beat by the Lakers in a seven game series.

 

[Jayblaze]

Jazz 138 blazers 95

 

[blazerkor]

Jazz 138 blazers 95

 

[kjironman1]

Get back in there and get a win on the road. Never stop!
Find a way to bounce back.
Go Blazers!

 

[maxiep]

We played really well through some difficult officiating, no Nurk and hot Clippers shooting tonight. I expect we'll give the Jazz a real battle. Go Blazers!

 

[Labinot41]

We're a guaranteed first round exit

 

[Strenuus]

We lose by 15 with nurk.

Lose by 30 without nurk.

 

[maxiep]

We're a guaranteed first round exit

Better stop watching then. Buh-bye.

 

[THE HCP]

We're a guaranteed first round exit

I think I posted this in November.

 

[AldoTrapani]

I think I posted this in November.

Good call big bro! The nice thing is we finally look like we’ll have some big changes coming forward after this season. It’s time

 

[Tyrant of Ants]

We win this game, dammit. Fuck the spread, I'm taking the ML on the Blazers this game.

 

[kjironman1]

This is another "Play to the Level of competition game".
You could almost see it against the Clippers, Thunder, Bucks.
Blazers had played a few subpar teams and came up against the Bucks and they got blown out.
They they carried into the Thunder and smoked them but you could see the level was not there.
They come up against the Clippers and open soft. They battled back and turned up the intensity.
They will come out intense against the Jazz.

The Jazz are at Phoenix tonight then they play on the second of a B2B against the Blazers. The Jazz also just lost to the Mavs on the road.
They had just feasted on 9 straight wins against sub par teams. The Grizzlies 3 times in 5 days with the Bulls on each side of those games twice. Orlando, Cleveland, Toronto. Their one notable win was the Nets who sat Harden, Durant, Irving, Griffin, Jordan played 12 mins. Was a 30 point blowout with bench players.

The Jazz might give players a rest against the Suns and look to beating the Blazers instead. They don't need a win against the Suns at this point.

The player this team has that causes the most problems for the Blazers is Mike Conley.

 

[BonesJones]

This is another "Play to the Level of competition game".
You could almost see it against the Clippers, Thunder, Bucks.
Blazers had played a few subpar teams and came up against the Bucks and they got blown out.
They they carried into the Thunder and smoked them but you could see the level was not there.
They come up against the Clippers and open soft. They battled back and turned up the intensity.
They will come out intense against the Jazz.

The Jazz are at Phoenix tonight then they play on the second of a B2B against the Blazers. The Jazz also just lost to the Mavs on the road.
They had just feasted on 9 straight wins against sub par teams. The Grizzlies 3 times in 5 days with the Bulls on each side of those games twice. Orlando, Cleveland, Toronto. Their one notable win was the Nets who sat Harden, Durant, Irving, Griffin, Jordan played 12 mins. Was a 30 point blowout with bench players.

The Jazz might give players a rest against the Suns and look to beating the Blazers instead. They don't need a win against the Suns at this point.

The player this team has that causes the most problems for the Blazers is Mike Conley.

The Suns have 10x the chance of catching them then we do.

 

[illmatic99]

We win this game, dammit. Fuck the spread, I'm taking the ML on the Blazers this game.

money down the drain. more likely to get blown out by 20+

 

[Scalma]

I feel like our best chance to win against good teams with Stotts would be to have two of Dame/CJ/Powell on the court at all times, surrounded by three defenders...so any three of Nurk, Jones, Roco, Powell, RHJ, Nas, and maybe Giles (eventually Collins.) No more Kanter, no more Melo, no more Simons, and definitely no more lineups with two of them at the same time.

Idk why I’m posting that idea here, but who cares.

 

[blazerkor]

This is another "Play to the Level of competition game".
You could almost see it against the Clippers, Thunder, Bucks.
Blazers had played a few subpar teams and came up against the Bucks and they got blown out.
They they carried into the Thunder and smoked them but you could see the level was not there.
They come up against the Clippers and open soft. They battled back and turned up the intensity.
They will come out intense against the Jazz.

The Jazz are at Phoenix tonight then they play on the second of a B2B against the Blazers. The Jazz also just lost to the Mavs on the road.
They had just feasted on 9 straight wins against sub par teams. The Grizzlies 3 times in 5 days with the Bulls on each side of those games twice. Orlando, Cleveland, Toronto. Their one notable win was the Nets who sat Harden, Durant, Irving, Griffin, Jordan played 12 mins. Was a 30 point blowout with bench players.

The Jazz might give players a rest against the Suns and look to beating the Blazers instead. They don't need a win against the Suns at this point.

The player this team has that causes the most problems for the Blazers is Mike Conley.

At this point in the season if the Jazz just take the L against Phoenix in what technically is a battle against the two best teams in the league, that will tell you everything you need to know about Utah. It will show absolutely no competitive drive.

I actually think they'll play that game like it's the playoffs and it's on prime time ESPN. The league would be furious with them if they tried some load management shit. So I'm just hoping that the Suns and Jazz show that they're evenly matched and end up playing a couple of overtimes and then they have to travel home late. It would make this game winnable.

Also I always thought that teams that "played to the level of their competition" were teams that were always in close games because they got up for the teams that were better than them and then took the teams lightly that they were supposed to beat.

 

[TBpup]

Compare those staring lineups. Should the Jazz really be that much better than the Blazers?

 

[Cugel]

No they shouldn't. This game will be an excruciating watch. Wide open uncontested 3s all night long. Damian hasn't had a real impact on games for awhile now. Not sure why. He deserves a better coach.

 

[B-Roy]

I feel like our best chance to win against good teams with Stotts would be to have two of Dame/CJ/Powell on the court at all times, surrounded by three defenders...so any three of Nurk, Jones, Roco, Powell, RHJ, Nas, and maybe Giles (eventually Collins.) No more Kanter, no more Melo, no more Simons, and definitely no more lineups with two of them at the same time.

Idk why I’m posting that idea here, but who cares.

Blatantly obvious the best way to win is to stop playing negative defenders.

 

[AldoTrapani]

The Blazers (30-20) are now 1-7 against the five teams above them in the Western Conference, and the average score in those games is 120-107. Amid the wreckage are losses by 32 to the Suns, by 23 and 17 to the Clippers and by 20 to the Jazz. The only win against the top teams was a 115-107 victory at the Lakers in the season’s third game.


Blow out incoming

 

[Natebishop3]

The Jazz are about to do to us what we just did to the Thunder.

 

[wizenheimer]

everybody predicting doom in SLC could be right. I will say after 50 years of watching the NBA, situations like what Portland will be facing against Utah often result in surprises. I think the Blazers will probably lose too, but I'm giving them more of a chance than many apparently are.

 

[kjironman1]

The Suns have 10x the chance of issuing them then we do.

Issuing? Is that a typo?
Issuing what?
Suns are most likely winning that game IMO. Why would the Jazz play hard and chance two losses? They play a tough game tonight and come out tired against the Blazers?
Not saying they will but resting and going for the winnable game against a divisional rival seems like a possibility.
I would not be surprised to see them come out and see how things are going but if they get down they pull the plug early.
Who really cares if a game is on ESPN? I just wish the Blazers did more of this kind of thing. Play the schedule. Don't let the schedule play you.

 

[DDolla]

Oh no... we are playing th number 1 team in the west. Need a poll on how many 3’s the Jazz can make.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Jazz 138 blazers 95

At halftime.

 

[BonesJones]

Issuing? Is that a typo?
Issuing what?
Suns are most likely winning that game IMO. Why would the Jazz play hard and chance two losses? They play a tough game tonight and come out tired against the Blazers?
Not saying they will but resting and going for the winnable game against a divisional rival seems like a possibility.
I would not be surprised to see them come out and see how things are going but if they get down they pull the plug early.
Who really cares if a game is on ESPN? I just wish the Blazers did more of this kind of thing. Play the schedule. Don't let the schedule play you.

Catching*