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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.
"We just came out kind of soft, lackadaisical," Jazz forwardPaul Millsap said. "We thought, coming back home, we should havea lot of energy. But we didn't have that tonight."
Martell Webster scored 25 and Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack added16 apiece to lead Portland to its fourth victory in a row.
"That's our second road win, but it's our second in a row, somaybe we're turning it around a little bit," Roy said."Everybody came out and came to play tonight. We need guys to dothat every night."
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.
<div class="pre">"That's our job to get out there and bring energy especially</div>me, I'm an energy player, that's what I'm supposed to do,"Millsap said. "It's just hard to get over the hump."
Roy scored nine points - including 5-of-6 from the free-throwline - in the final period to hold the Jazz off.
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 LaMarcusAldridge, who is day-to-day with plantar fasciitis, the Blazershad just enough scoring options to take advantage of Utah'sporous defense.
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.
"Some guys are not going to be with us [sometimes], but itshouldn't change our approach to the game," Portland coach NateMcMillan said. "We've got to play the game hard, we've got toplay the game together. What it comes down to is anotheropportunity for someone else."
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.
"I was able to get into the teeth of the defense and make someplays early, and I think I was able to help us keep that lead,"Jack said. "I had a rough couple, three games, so I came in hereextremely focused. I hadn't gotten a win in this building sinceI've been in the league."
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.
"We have really been an ineffective defensive team," Jazz coachJerry Sloan said. "We haven't been able to keep people in frontof us, and when we do we don't get the kind of help we need tobe successful. We're going through a little bit of a stage wherewe feel sorry for ourselves."
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.
But the Blazers held the Jazz in check down the stretch, as Utahmissed seven of its last 11 shots and faded away. Utah shotjust 38 percent (34-of-89) from the floor overall and just16-of-23 from the foul line.
"We're just struggling. No excuses," Williams said. "We're notbringing a lot of energy, we're not playing any defense.Portland just came out and out-played us. They just playedbetter than us."
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.
"We just came out kind of soft, lackadaisical," Jazz forwardPaul Millsap said. "We thought, coming back home, we should havea lot of energy. But we didn't have that tonight."
Martell Webster scored 25 and Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack added16 apiece to lead Portland to its fourth victory in a row.
"That's our second road win, but it's our second in a row, somaybe we're turning it around a little bit," Roy said."Everybody came out and came to play tonight. We need guys to dothat every night."
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.
<div class="pre">"That's our job to get out there and bring energy especially</div>me, I'm an energy player, that's what I'm supposed to do,"Millsap said. "It's just hard to get over the hump."
Roy scored nine points - including 5-of-6 from the free-throwline - in the final period to hold the Jazz off.
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 LaMarcusAldridge, who is day-to-day with plantar fasciitis, the Blazershad just enough scoring options to take advantage of Utah'sporous defense.
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.
"Some guys are not going to be with us [sometimes], but itshouldn't change our approach to the game," Portland coach NateMcMillan said. "We've got to play the game hard, we've got toplay the game together. What it comes down to is anotheropportunity for someone else."
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.
"I was able to get into the teeth of the defense and make someplays early, and I think I was able to help us keep that lead,"Jack said. "I had a rough couple, three games, so I came in hereextremely focused. I hadn't gotten a win in this building sinceI've been in the league."
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.
"We have really been an ineffective defensive team," Jazz coachJerry Sloan said. "We haven't been able to keep people in frontof us, and when we do we don't get the kind of help we need tobe successful. We're going through a little bit of a stage wherewe feel sorry for ourselves."
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.
But the Blazers held the Jazz in check down the stretch, as Utahmissed seven of its last 11 shots and faded away. Utah shotjust 38 percent (34-of-89) from the floor overall and just16-of-23 from the foul line.
"We're just struggling. No excuses," Williams said. "We're notbringing a lot of energy, we're not playing any defense.Portland just came out and out-played us. They just playedbetter than us."