With this win, the Blazers improve to 3-2 this regular season.
Advertisement
Lillard scored a season-best 35 points and McCollum added 27 as Portland posted an impressive 108-92 road victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNTABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (3-2): Memphis gave up 103 or more points in three of its first four games, including a terrible 119 points while being lambasted by Golden State.
“It’s a moment I was waiting for since I got drafted”, Neto said earlier in the day. Ed Davis tops in rebounds with 8.8 per game while Al-Farouq Aminu leads in blocks with 1.3 per game.
“For me to go in and throw stuff and scream and yell, that might have a little bit of an impact, but over the course of a season that’s not going to get us where we need to go”. “We wanted to play well, new arena (name), blah, blah, blah”.
The Blazers finished at 53.2 percent from the floor, while the Jazz shot 37.5 percent.
The visitors weren’t challenged after that, picking up their second road win in three nights.
Small forward Gordon Hayward led the Jazz in scoring for the first time this season, finishing with 19 points on 7-for-20 shooting. McCollum scored a career-high 37 points in Portland’s season opener, while Lillard dropped 34 points against Minnesota on Monday.
Portland’s offense wasn’t intimidated by Utah’s NBA-leading defense, which held its first three opponents to an average of 79.7 points. Center Mason Plumlee grabbed 16 boards to go with 12 points. Sure there were a few jokes, some smiles, plenty of good vibes, but there wasn’t the excitement that could believable follow an impressive win road.
Utah was 5 of 24 from beyond the arc.
Power forward Meyers Leonard left the game in the first half due to an ankle sprain and didn’t return.
McCollum answered with a 3-pointer on the Blazers’ next possession.
The Blazers (3-2) led 57-49 at halftime and never let up control, as the Jazz fell to 2-2. The Portland Trail Blazers are averaging 101.6 points on 46.1 percent shooting and allowing 99.6 points on 41.1 percent shooting.
Advertisement
The Jazz appeared to be on the verge of making a comeback attempt early in the fourth quarter, but Lillard and Maurice Harkless drained 3-pointers to keep the momentum with Portland. “We’re trying to integrate Alec and Rodney into a more substantial role, ” Snyder said. Lillard was even offered a few Vikings gear.
