GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: PORTLAND (8-12) at UTAH (13-8)

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NBA: PORTLAND (8-12) at UTAH (13-8)

<h3>Jazz look to continue home dominance of Trail Blazers</h3>

<div class="pre">Portland (8-12) at Utah (13-8) 9:00 pm EST</div>

SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) - Returning home following adisappointing road trip, the Utah Jazz face the Portland TrailBlazers on Tuesday.


The Jazz completed a winless three-game road trip with a 125-117loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.


However, the Jazz have won their last eight games at home andhave won six straight - and 11 of the past 12 - against Portlandin Utah.


The Jazz are led by Carlos Boozer, who is averaging 25.1 pointsand 11.4 rebounds. Point guard Deron Williams also has beenhuge, averaging 21.2 points and 8.9 assists.


Portland, meanwhile, is coming in on a three-game winningstreak. On Sunday, Brandon Roy scored 26 points to leadthe Blazers to a 117-113 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Roy has averaged 25.7 points during the winning. The Blazershave reached at least 105 points in each of their last threegames.
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">PORTLAND AT UTAH - PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS


PORTLAND UTAH

F Martell Webster F Andrei Kirilenko
F Channing Frye F Carlos Boozer
C Joel Przybilla C Mehmet Okur
G Brandon Roy G Ronnie Brewer
G Steve Blake G Deron Williams

OFFICIALS: Mike Callahan
Bill Kennedy
Tony Brown</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">PORTLAND VS UTAH - INACTIVES

PORTLAND UTAH

PLAYER NAME REASON PLAYER NAME REASON
D MILES RIGHT KNEE INJURY
L ALDRIDGE PLANTAR FASCITIS
G ODEN RIGHT KNEE INJURY</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 8
UTAH 10 8:43 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 15
UTAH 15 6:02 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 20
UTAH 21 3:14 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 29
UTAH 27 END, 1ST QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA END 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PORTLAND 29 29
UTAH 27 27 END 1ST QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 1ST QUARTER

POR - MARTELL WEBSTER 12, BRANDON ROY 5,
SERGIO RODRIGUEZ 4
UTH - CARLOS BOOZER 10, MEHMET OKUR 5, RONNIE
BREWER 4</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 33
UTAH 31 9:01 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 39
UTAH 36 5:52 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 48
UTAH 37 2:42 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 55
UTAH 46 HALFTIME</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PORTLAND 29 26 55
UTAH 27 19 46 HALFTIME

HIGH SCORERS AT HALFTIME

POR - JARRETT JACK 14, MARTELL WEBSTER 12,
TRAVIS OUTLAW 8
UTH - CARLOS BOOZER 13, DERON WILLIAMS 7, PAUL
MILLSAP 6</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 59
UTAH 48 9:06 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 69
UTAH 56 5:53 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 76
UTAH 58 3:08 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 78
UTAH 66 END, 3RD QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA END 3RD QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PORTLAND 29 26 23 78
UTAH 27 19 20 66 END 3RD QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 3RD QUARTER

POR - MARTELL WEBSTER 22, JARRETT JACK 14,
TRAVIS OUTLAW 8
UTH - CARLOS BOOZER 21, DERON WILLIAMS 11,
MEHMET OKUR 9</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 80
UTAH 71 9:08 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 85
UTAH 81 5:53 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA PORTLAND 90
UTAH 85 3:21 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">NBA FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PORTLAND 29 26 23 19 97
UTAH 27 19 20 23 89 FINAL

HIGH SCORERS: POR - MARTELL WEBSTER 25, BRANDON ROY 16,
JARRETT JACK 16
UTH - CARLOS BOOZER 29, PAUL MILLSAP 14, DERON
WILLIAMS 11</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
PORTLAND 97
UTAH 89 FINAL</div>
 
By Chris Bellamy
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


<div class="pre">SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) Two unexpected streaks continued in</div>the most unexpected of places Tuesday night.


The Portland Trail Blazers, who lost their first nine road gamesof the season, stunned the suddenly struggling Utah Jazz ontheir home floor, 97-89.


It was the second straight road victory for the Blazers and thefirst home loss since November 1 for Utah, which has now droppedfour straight overall.


Martell Webster scored 25 and Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack added16 apiece to lead Portland to its fourth victory in a row.

After the Blazers took an 18-point lead in the third quarter,the Jazz seemed to settle down in the fourth quarter and lookedpoised to steal a victory with a late rally. Behind a secondunit headlined by free-agent acquisition Jason Hart andsecond-year forward Paul Millsap, Utah pulled back intocontention.


Millsap scored six points in the opening minutes of the finalquarter and Hart and Gordan Giricek added crucial 3-pointers asthe Jazz pulled to as close as 82-78. But even when the firstteam returned to the floor, the same old problems kept coming upand they never pulled ahead.


Despite attempting more shots, grabbing more rebounds andcommitting fewer turnovers than Portland over the first twoquarters of play, the Jazz found themselves down by nine at thehalf. An offense that came into the night scoring thefourth-most points in the league suddenly showed no signs of thecohesion and explosiveness that was largely responsible for theclub's 13-5 start.


Defensively it was even worse, as the Jazz repeatedly leftPortland's shooters with an ocean of space on the wings and onthe baseline. Even without the post presence of LaMarcus Aldridge<div class="pre"> who is day-to-day with planter fasciitis the Blazers had</div>just enough scoring options to take advantage of Utah's porousdefense.


Webster was their antagonist early on, scoring 12 points in thefirst quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, both of whichgave his team a lead. Backup Jarrett Jack took over in thesecond, scoring 10 points in a 13-3 run that pushed a one-pointedge to a comfortable 11-point advantage.


Jack, the Blazers' third-year point guard from Georgia Tech, wasable to exploit an uncharacteristically soft Utah interior,driving the lane for three buckets in the paint and drawingfouls two other times, knocking down all four of his foul shots.

Behind Webster and Jack, Portland shot 59 percent (20-of-34) inthe first half. That momentum spilled over into the second half,as the Blazers went on a 12-4 run as their lead ballooned to17. Steve Blake and Webster capped the run with back-to-backthrees to take a commanding 67-50 lead.


It wasn't until the waning moments of the third quarter that the<div class="pre">Jazz finally started to come to life and they did so without</div>Carlos Boozer and without Deron Williams.


With the final seconds ticking off the third-quarter clock,Millsap pulled down a rebound off Jason Hart's miss and buriedan off-balance fallaway jumper with one-tenth of a second leftto cut Utah's deficit to just 12.
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">PORTLAND (97) AT UTAH (89)

PORTLAND

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

S BLAKE G 31:04 2-6 0-2 0 4 4 8 0 3 2 6
B ROY G 31:59 5-12 6-7 0 3 3 3 3 1 2 16
C FRYE F 19:31 3-10 4-4 1 1 2 0 5 0 1 10
M WEBSTER F 30:15 9-13 2-3 2 3 5 2 1 1 3 25
J PRZYBILLA C 37:41 2-3 2-2 1 9 10 1 4 0 2 6
T OUTLAW 28:42 4-9 3-4 1 4 5 2 3 1 5 11
J JACK 23:40 5-8 6-6 0 2 2 2 0 1 2 16
J JONES 19:13 1-3 1-1 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 3
R LAFRENTZ 9:23 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 1 0
S RODRIGUEZ 8:32 1-3 1-2 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 4
L ALDRIDGE DNP - COACH'S DECISION
J MCROBERTS DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 32-67 25-31 6 31 37 21 20 7 19 97
(.478) (.806) TEAM REBS: 9 TOTAL TO: 20 (0 PTS)

UTAH

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

D WILLIAMS G 33:40 4-14 2-3 3 3 6 9 1 4 2 11
R BREWER G 22:12 3-4 0-0 0 0 0 4 2 1 0 6
C BOOZER F 36:40 11-17 7-11 4 9 13 1 4 2 4 29
A KIRILENKO F 25:52 1-3 1-2 2 2 4 0 1 0 2 3
M OKUR C 21:13 3-10 2-3 3 2 5 0 0 0 2 9
P MILLSAP 24:21 6-13 2-2 6 3 9 1 5 1 0 14
M HARPRING 22:08 1-5 0-0 2 3 5 3 5 0 2 3
G GIRICEK 15:52 1-8 0-0 1 3 4 2 2 1 0 3
J HART 14:20 2-7 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 1 2 5
J COLLINS 13:46 0-1 2-2 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 2
C MILES 9:56 2-7 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 4
R PRICE DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 34-89 16-23 22 28 50 20 25 11 15 89
(.382) (.696) TEAM REBS: 7 TOTAL TO: 16 (0 PTS)

PORTLAND 29 26 23 19 - 97
UTAH 27 19 20 23 - 89

BLOCKED SHOTS: PORTLAND - J PRZYBILLA 5, R LAFRENTZ, J JONES, C FRYE.
UTAH - A KIRILENKO 3, P MILLSAP, R BREWER.
3-PT. FIELD GOALS: PORTLAND 8-17 (.471), S BLAKE 2-5, M WEBSTER 5-
8, T OUTLAW 0-1, J JACK 0-1, J JONES 0-1, S RODRIGUEZ 1-1. UTAH 5-
19 (.263), D WILLIAMS 1-3, A KIRILENKO 0-1, M OKUR 1-4, M HARPRING 1-
3, G GIRICEK 1-4, J HART 1-2, C MILES 0-2.
TECHNICAL FOULS: PORTLAND - R LAFRENTZ, J PRZYBILLA.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: BILL KENNEDY, MIKE CALLAHAN, TONY BROWN.
A - 19,911. T - 2:17.</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">PORTLAND (97)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
S Blake 31:04 2-6 0-2 0-4 8 0 6
B Roy 31:59 5-12 6-7 0-3 3 3 16
C Frye 19:31 3-10 4-4 1-2 0 5 10
M Webster 30:15 9-13 2-3 2-5 2 1 25
J Przybilla 37:41 2-3 2-2 1-10 1 4 6
T Outlaw 28:42 4-9 3-4 1-5 2 3 11
J Jack 23:40 5-8 6-6 0-2 2 0 16
J Jones 19:13 1-3 1-1 1-2 0 2 3
R LaFrentz 9:23 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 2 0
S Rodriguez 8:32 1-3 1-2 0-2 2 0 4
L Aldridge DNP - COACH'S DECISION
J McRoberts DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 32-67 25-31 6-37 21 20 97
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.478, FT-.806. 3-Point Goals:
8-17, .471 (S Blake 2-5, M Webster 5-8, T
Outlaw 0-1, J Jack 0-1, J Jones 0-1, S
Rodriguez 1-1). Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked
Shots:8 (J Przybilla 5, R LaFrentz, J Jones,
C Frye). Turnovers:19 (T Outlaw 5, M Webster
3, J Przybilla 2, S Blake 2, B Roy 2, J Jack
2, R LaFrentz, S Rodriguez, C Frye). Steals:
7 (S Blake 3, B Roy, J Jack, T Outlaw, M
Webster).


UTAH (89)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
D Williams 33:40 4-14 2-3 3-6 9 1 11
R Brewer 22:12 3-4 0-0 0-0 4 2 6
C Boozer 36:40 11-17 7-11 4-13 1 4 29
A Kirilenko 25:52 1-3 1-2 2-4 0 1 3
M Okur 21:13 3-10 2-3 3-5 0 0 9
P Millsap 24:21 6-13 2-2 6-9 1 5 14
M Harpring 22:08 1-5 0-0 2-5 3 5 3
G Giricek 15:52 1-8 0-0 1-4 2 2 3
J Hart 14:20 2-7 0-0 0-2 0 2 5
J Collins 13:46 0-1 2-2 1-2 0 1 2
C Miles 9:56 2-7 0-0 0-0 0 2 4
R Price DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 34-89 16-23 22-50 20 25 89
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.382, FT-.696. 3-Point Goals:
5-19, .263 (D Williams 1-3, A Kirilenko 0-1,
M Okur 1-4, M Harpring 1-3, G Giricek 1-4, J
Hart 1-2, C Miles 0-2). Team Rebounds: 7.
Blocked Shots:5 (A Kirilenko 3, P Millsap, R
Brewer). Turnovers:15 (C Boozer 4, M Harpring
2, J Hart 2, D Williams 2, A Kirilenko 2, M
Okur 2, C Miles). Steals: 11 (D Williams 4, C
Boozer 2, J Hart, G Giricek, P Millsap, R
Brewer, C Miles).

-------------------------------------------
PORTLAND 29 26 23 19 - 97
UTAH 27 19 20 23 - 89
-------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: Portland - 2 (R LaFrentz,
11:18 2nd; J Przybilla, 5:18 3rd).
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 19,911. T: 2:17.
Officials: Bill Kennedy, Mike Callahan, Tony
Brown.</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">PORTLAND (97) AT UTAH (89)

PORTLAND

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

S BLAKE G 31:04 2-6 0-2 0 4 4 8 0 3 2 6
B ROY G 31:59 5-12 6-7 0 3 3 3 3 1 2 16
C FRYE F 19:32 3-10 4-4 1 1 2 0 5 0 1 10
M WEBSTER F 30:15 9-13 2-3 2 3 5 2 1 1 3 25
J PRZYBILLA C 37:42 2-3 2-2 1 9 10 1 4 0 2 6
T OUTLAW 28:42 4-9 3-4 1 4 5 2 3 1 5 11
J JACK 23:40 5-8 6-6 0 2 2 2 0 1 2 16
J JONES 19:13 1-3 1-1 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 3
R LAFRENTZ 9:22 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 1 0
S RODRIGUEZ 8:31 1-3 1-2 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 4
L ALDRIDGE DNP - NOT WITH TEAM
J MCROBERTS DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 32-67 25-31 6 31 37 21 20 7 19 97
(.478) (.806) TEAM REBS: 9 TOTAL TO: 20 (14 PTS)

UTAH

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

D WILLIAMS G 33:40 4-14 2-3 3 3 6 9 1 4 2 11
R BREWER G 22:12 3-4 0-0 0 0 0 4 2 1 0 6
C BOOZER F 36:40 11-17 7-11 4 9 13 1 4 2 4 29
A KIRILENKO F 25:52 1-3 1-2 2 2 4 0 1 0 2 3
M OKUR C 21:13 3-10 2-3 3 2 5 0 0 0 2 9
P MILLSAP 24:21 6-13 2-2 6 3 9 1 5 1 0 14
M HARPRING 22:08 1-5 0-0 2 3 5 3 5 0 2 3
G GIRICEK 15:52 1-8 0-0 1 3 4 2 2 1 0 3
J HART 14:20 2-7 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 1 2 5
J COLLINS 13:46 0-1 2-2 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 2
C MILES 9:56 2-7 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 4
R PRICE DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 34-89 16-23 22 28 50 20 25 11 15 89
(.382) (.696) TEAM REBS: 7 TOTAL TO: 16 (13 PTS)

PORTLAND 29 26 23 19 - 97
UTAH 27 19 20 23 - 89

BLOCKED SHOTS: PORTLAND - J PRZYBILLA 5, R LAFRENTZ, J JONES, C FRYE.
UTAH - A KIRILENKO 3, P MILLSAP, R BREWER.
3-PT. FIELD GOALS: PORTLAND 8-17 (.471), S BLAKE 2-5, M WEBSTER 5-
8, T OUTLAW 0-1, J JACK 0-1, J JONES 0-1, S RODRIGUEZ 1-1. UTAH 5-
19 (.263), D WILLIAMS 1-3, A KIRILENKO 0-1, M OKUR 1-4, M HARPRING 1-
3, G GIRICEK 1-4, J HART 1-2, C MILES 0-2.
TECHNICAL FOULS: PORTLAND - DEFENSIVE THREE 2.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: BILL KENNEDY, MIKE CALLAHAN, TONY BROWN.
A - 19,911. T - 2:17.</div>
 
NBA: PORTLAND at UTAH

<div class="pre">PORTLAND (97)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
S Blake 31:04 2-6 0-2 0-4 8 0 6
B Roy 31:59 5-12 6-7 0-3 3 3 16
C Frye 19:32 3-10 4-4 1-2 0 5 10
M Webster 30:15 9-13 2-3 2-5 2 1 25
J Przybilla 37:42 2-3 2-2 1-10 1 4 6
T Outlaw 28:42 4-9 3-4 1-5 2 3 11
J Jack 23:40 5-8 6-6 0-2 2 0 16
J Jones 19:13 1-3 1-1 1-2 0 2 3
R LaFrentz 9:22 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 2 0
S Rodriguez 8:31 1-3 1-2 0-2 2 0 4
L Aldridge DNP - NOT WITH TEAM
J McRoberts DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 32-67 25-31 6-37 21 20 97
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.478, FT-.806. 3-Point Goals:
8-17, .471 (S Blake 2-5, M Webster 5-8, T
Outlaw 0-1, J Jack 0-1, J Jones 0-1, S
Rodriguez 1-1). Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked
Shots:8 (J Przybilla 5, R LaFrentz, J Jones,
C Frye). Turnovers:19 (T Outlaw 5, M Webster
3, J Przybilla 2, S Blake 2, B Roy 2, J Jack
2, R LaFrentz, S Rodriguez, C Frye). Steals:
7 (S Blake 3, B Roy, J Jack, T Outlaw, M
Webster).


UTAH (89)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
D Williams 33:40 4-14 2-3 3-6 9 1 11
R Brewer 22:12 3-4 0-0 0-0 4 2 6
C Boozer 36:40 11-17 7-11 4-13 1 4 29
A Kirilenko 25:52 1-3 1-2 2-4 0 1 3
M Okur 21:13 3-10 2-3 3-5 0 0 9
P Millsap 24:21 6-13 2-2 6-9 1 5 14
M Harpring 22:08 1-5 0-0 2-5 3 5 3
G Giricek 15:52 1-8 0-0 1-4 2 2 3
J Hart 14:20 2-7 0-0 0-2 0 2 5
J Collins 13:46 0-1 2-2 1-2 0 1 2
C Miles 9:56 2-7 0-0 0-0 0 2 4
R Price DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 34-89 16-23 22-50 20 25 89
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.382, FT-.696. 3-Point Goals:
5-19, .263 (D Williams 1-3, A Kirilenko 0-1,
M Okur 1-4, M Harpring 1-3, G Giricek 1-4, J
Hart 1-2, C Miles 0-2). Team Rebounds: 7.
Blocked Shots:5 (A Kirilenko 3, P Millsap, R
Brewer). Turnovers:15 (C Boozer 4, M Harpring
2, J Hart 2, D Williams 2, A Kirilenko 2, M
Okur 2, C Miles). Steals: 11 (D Williams 4, C
Boozer 2, J Hart, G Giricek, P Millsap, R
Brewer, C Miles).

-------------------------------------------
PORTLAND 29 26 23 19 - 97
UTAH 27 19 20 23 - 89
-------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: Portland - 2 (Defensive
Three, 11:18 2nd; Defensive Three, 5:18 3rd).
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 19,911. T: 2:17.
Officials: Bill Kennedy, Mike Callahan, Tony
Brown.</div>
 
By Chris Bellamy
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) - Two unexpected streaks continued inthe most unexpected of places Tuesday night.


The Portland Trail Blazers, who lost their first nine road gamesof the season, stunned the suddenly struggling Utah Jazz ontheir home floor, 97-89.


It was the second straight road victory for the Blazers and thefirst home loss since November 1 for Utah, which has now droppedfour straight overall.


Martell Webster scored 25 and Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack added16 apiece to lead Portland to its fourth victory in a row.

After the Blazers took an 18-point lead in the third quarter,the Jazz seemed to settle down in the fourth quarter and lookedpoised to steal a victory with a late rally. Behind a secondunit headlined by free-agent acquisition Jason Hart andsecond-year forward Paul Millsap, Utah pulled back intocontention.


Millsap scored six points in the opening minutes of the finalquarter and Hart and Gordan Giricek added crucial 3-pointers asthe Jazz pulled to as close as 82-78. But even when the firstteam returned to the floor, the same old problems kept coming upand they never pulled ahead.


Despite attempting more shots, grabbing more rebounds andcommitting fewer turnovers than Portland over the first twoquarters of play, the Jazz found themselves down by nine at thehalf. An offense that came into the night scoring thefourth-most points in the league suddenly showed no signs of thecohesion and explosiveness that was largely responsible for theclub's 13-5 start.


Defensively it was even worse, as the Jazz repeatedly leftPortland's shooters with an ocean of space on the wings and onthe baseline. Even without the post presence of LaMarcus Aldridge, who is day-to-day with planter fasciitis, the Blazers hadjust enough scoring options to take advantage of Utah's porousdefense.


Webster was their antagonist early on, scoring 12 points in thefirst quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, both of whichgave his team a lead. Backup Jarrett Jack took over in thesecond, scoring 10 points in a 13-3 run that pushed a one-pointedge to a comfortable 11-point advantage.


Jack, the Blazers' third-year point guard from Georgia Tech, wasable to exploit an uncharacteristically soft Utah interior,driving the lane for three buckets in the paint and drawingfouls two other times, knocking down all four of his foul shots.

Behind Webster and Jack, Portland shot 59 percent (20-of-34) inthe first half. That momentum spilled over into the second half,as the Blazers went on a 12-4 run as their lead ballooned to17. Steve Blake and Webster capped the run with back-to-backthrees to take a commanding 67-50 lead.


It wasn't until the waning moments of the third quarter that theJazz finally started to come to life, and they did so withoutCarlos Boozer and Deron Williams.


With the final seconds ticking off the third-quarter clock,Millsap pulled down a rebound off Jason Hart's miss and buriedan off-balance fallaway jumper with one-tenth of a second leftto cut Utah's deficit to just 12.
 
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