Four-Point Play: Utah Jazz Fall to Portland Trail Blazers

With both teams coming off exciting wins in their previous games, the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers squared off on Sunday night in a battle for playoff position. Each club was hot coming into the contest; the Blazers had won nine of their last 10 games, while Utah had won eight of their last 10.

In the end, though, it was the Trail Blazers that prevailed over the Jazz, winning 115-111. The Portland backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum proved too much to handle for the Jazz, pacing the Blazers with 30 and 31 points respectively. Meanwhile, Moe Harkless came in with reckless energy and dominated the paint with 17 points.

Derrick Favors led the Jazz with 22 points and was only slowed by the phantom foul calls against him. If not for Favors’ foul trouble, the Jazz may have pulled out the win. Gordon Hayward chipped in with 22 points, but didn’t seem to dominate the game at any given point.

Shelvin Mack was the toast of the night for the Jazz. He had a season high in points, assists and minutes. Rodney Hood hit two clutch three-pointers and finished with 18 points.

1) Mack-n-Cheese

Urban dictionary defines mac-n-cheese as the best ever. Without question, Shelvin Mack was the best Jazz point guard on Sunday. Mack made the UTA-ATL trade look one-sided, even if it is a one-game sample size. If Twitter is to be believed, Mack instantly went from being an unknown out of Butler to the best point guard in Jazz history–

Jokes aside, he did have a tremendous first half and was solid enough in the second. Lillard scored most of his points when Mack was not guarding him. It is to be noted that Mack entered the game before Trey Burke. Jazz coach Quin Snyder will probably base his lineups on individual match-ups on a nightly basis, but it’s clear that defense and ball handling are important to him.

2) Rebounding

The Jazz had the size advantage in the paint, but the Blazers still worked them on the boards. You can’t win games by giving up 23 offensive boards. That is 23 more shots for Lillard and McCollum. Even if they shoot 40 percent, that’s pretty much the game.

Harkless, essentially a small forward, worked the Jazz and grabbed six offensive rebounds. Rudy Gobert and Favors had four and three defensive rebounds respectively. When your opponent is shooting 43 percent from the field and 66 percent from the line, a total of seven rebounds from your front line is unacceptable.

Coach Snyder could have tried Jeff Withey when Gobert was resting. Then again, no one is sure what Withey has done to earn his continual DNPs, apart from playing phenomenal in Gobert’s absence.

3) Playoff Implications

This game was crucial for both Utah and Portland. By losing the game, the Jazz have given up the tie-breaker to the Blazers. Both teams, along with the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets, are projected to finish very close in the playoff race.

There are, of course, umpteen mathematical possibilities for teams and fans to consider in the playoff race without dwelling too much on this tie-breaker, but Sunday’s loss still looms large.

Still, the Jazz gave it all on Sunday and still lost. As a fan, one can only ask for effort and the Jazz brought it in Portland.

4) Hayward Against Aminu This Season

Here’s what I’ll leave you with; some G-Time numbers from Basketball Reference. Take from it what you will, Jazz fans–

Next: Jazz Have Back-to-Back Big Opportunities

Next up for the Jazz is another game with playoff implications against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday. Tip-off is at 7 PM MDT.