Lillard, Sharpe lead Blazers past Jazz to halt 6-game skid
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Damian Lillard scored 30 points, rookie Shaedon Sharpe had a career-high 24 and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz 127-115 on Wednesday night to stop a six-game losing streak.
Trendon Watford added a season-best 21 points for the Blazers. Portland used a 9-0 run, sparked by Kevin Knox III’s alley-oop layup midway through the fourth quarter, to pull away.
Lillard capped the spurt with a layup to make it 113-100 with 5:51 to play, and the Jazz never got it back under single digits.
Lauri Markkanen had 40 points and 12 rebounds while Kris Dunn scored 15 off the bench for Utah, which had won four of five.
The Trail Blazers (32-40) won three of four against Utah (35-37) this season but are a long shot to make the play-in tournament as they are still three games behind the Jazz for the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference standings.
The only thing that could stop Markkanen was a sore left hand that got hit on a foul late in the third quarter. The 7-footer from Finland stayed down on the court and flexed and massaged his hand before going to the line to get his 37th point.
Markkanen had missed a game with a tight back but returned to make 10 of his 11 shots inside the arc. But he managed only three points in the final quarter as Portland pulled away.
Jusuf Nurkic scored 20 for the Trail Blazers to mark his first consecutive 20-point games in two months, but the game belonged to the youngsters, Watford and Sharpe, who were thrust into the spotlight with Portland missing starters Jerami Grant (thigh bruise) and Anfernee Simons (sore foot).
In surprising wins against Sacramento and Boston, the Jazz employed a trapping 1-3-1 zone with great success. It wasn’t nearly as disruptive against Lillard and the Blazers.
When forced to give up the ball, Lillard found easy shots for his teammates and matched a season high with 12 assists. So the Jazz played much more traditional man-to-man defense in the second half but with similar results against the ball-moving Blazers.
The Jazz have also recently thrived by taking care of the ball, but the miscues reappeared against Portland with 17 turnovers.
The last time these teams met, Lillard scored 60 points on 21-of-29 shooting with nine 3-pointers in a 134-124 win on Jan. 25. This time, he was happy to share the ball to get another victory.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Lillard got a technical foul in the second quarter, his eighth of the season. … Portland had a 62-52 advantage in points in the paint. … Ryan Arcidiacono’s foul on an airborne Markkanen was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 in the fourth quarter.
Jazz: Utah fell to 2-1 when Markkanen scores 40 or more points. … Rudy Gay left in the third quarter with lower back spasms. … Jordan Clarkson missed his seventh game with a thumb sprain and Collin Sexton has been out for more than a month with a hamstring injury.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Start a five-game homestand against Chicago on Friday.
Jazz: Host the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports