Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson added 22 points, six
rebounds and three assists off the bench as the Jazz won for the
sixth time in eight outings. Joe Ingles and Rudy Gay each scored
14 points.
Damian Lillard, who played his college ball at nearby Weber
State, was limited to 11 points on 4-for-12 shooting as the
Blazers lost their third straight game.
Jusuf Nurkic tallied a double-double of 24 points and 10 boards,
Anfernee Simons scored 24 off the bench and CJ McCollum added 19
points for the struggling visitors.
The Jazz offense clicked for the second straight game,
especially in the second half when it outscored Portland 76-58.
Utah shot 52.8 percent overall, 41.3 percent from 3-point range
and dished out 30 assists.
Utah seized control for good in the third quarter, opening the
half on a 10-1 run that started with back-to-back 3-pointers by
Mitchell.
Later in the period, Gay hit a pair beyond the arc to key an 8-0
run that put the Jazz up by their largest margin, 83-61. That
was part of a stretch in which Utah made baskets on nine
consecutive possessions.
Similar to the second quarter, Portland pushed back to erase
more than half of the Jazz's lead, pulling within 94-84 thanks
to a buzzer-beating trey by Tony Snell.
That was as close as the Blazers were able to get, and the Jazz
steadily built their lead back up to 22 thanks to a late 8-2 run
that put the game away.
Sparked by their two Rudys, the Jazz used a 12-2 run early in
the second quarter to go ahead 34-27. They then led 52-42 after
a Mitchell bucket with 1:25 remaining in the half, but Nurkic
hit a 3-pointer and a layup to help the Blazers go into the
break behind by just 53-49.
Gobert finished that half with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
--Field Level Media
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