RED HOT BLAZERS RIP JAZZ

The Utah Jazz had raised the ire of head coach Jerry Sloan in their previous two games for blowing big leads.  On Tuesday night at the Rose Garden Arena they never got the chance to fritter away a double digit advantage, and the host Portland Trailblazers gave them an effective lesson on how good teams maintain big leads at home.  The Blazers shot out to a 39-25 first quarter lead and never looked back as they went on to rout the Jazz 125-104.

The loss dropped Utah to 7^th in the Western Conference and served as a major setback in the Jazz’s bid for home court advantage throughout the playoffs—a big deal due to their disparate records at Salt Lake City’s Energy Solutions Arena (31-13) and on the road (14-22).  Like the Jazz, Portland has a decidedly better record in the ‘Rose City’ (25-19) than away from it (16-20) and Tuesday’s victory gave the Blazers a boost in their own bid to secure home court advantage.  Portland is now in 5^th place just a single game behind San Antonio and Houston, who are tied for third and fourth.  They’re also just 1 ½ games behind second place San Antonio.  Portland has played well heading down the stretch, with Tuesday’s victory their third straight and seventh in their last 10 games.

Six Blazers scored in double figures, led by LaMarcus Aldridge with 26 points.  Brandon Roy added a ‘double/double’ with 25 points and 11 assists, while Travis Outlaw and Nicolas Batum each scored 17.  Greg Oden came off the bench to post a very effective 12 points and 8 rebounds in only 11 minutes, while Steve Blake scored 10 points to round out the Blazers’ double digit onslaught.  The Jazz were led by Carlos Boozer with 20 and Deron Williams with 16.  Ronnie Brewer added 14, while Kyle Korver and Andrei Kirilenko scored 12 each. 

From the outset, the Blazers demonstrated an intensity and urgency that the Jazz did not.  In his postgame comments, leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge underscored the importance of this matchup:

"Every game matters, but I think this game meant a lot for us trying to get a division title and just move up in the playoff race."

Brandon Roy praised his teammates’ focus and effort:

"I'm just impressed with the way these guys came out from the jump. Everybody was excited in the locker room, everybody was upbeat and ready to go give 48 minutes of all-out effort."

Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan had little to say on this night other than admit that they’d been beaten by a better team:

"They were just sensational; they moved the basketball, passed the ball, got the ball and beat us down the floor. There just wasn't much we were able to do with them."

Portland will play their next three on the road, heading to Oklahoma City on Friday before taking on the Houston Rockets in a very important game on Sunday.  They’ll have an easier draw on Tuesday as they travel to Memphis for a game against the hapless Grizzlies.  Utah will play the Nuggets in Denver on Thursday before taking the short flight back to Salt Lake City for a game against Minnesota on Friday night.  They’ll be back on the road after that, heading to New Orleans for a game against the Hornets on Sunday.