Trail Blazers snap 8-game skid with 121-105 victory over the Jazz
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jerami Grant scored 30 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 121-105 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
Malcolm Brogdon added 20 points and eight assists, and Jabari Walker came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points with 10 rebounds. The Blazers led by as many as 32 points.
Lauri Markkanen had 24 points for the Jazz, who have lost five straight and eight of their last 10.
Walker said Blazers coach Chauncey Billups had been showing the team film of things the players did well to inspire them.
“We went on that losing streak, so I guess our heads went down a little bit. You could just tell the energy wasn’t the same. We kind of lost track of what good basketball looked like,” Walker said. “We just came in the morning for the game and we played highlights, good defense, and what it looks like.”
Blazers rookie guard Scoot Henderson played after missing nine games with a sprained right ankle. The No. 3 pick did not start, but came into the game to cheers with 4:14 left in the first half. He finished with three points and seven assists in 17 minutes.
“I think I played all right,” Henderson said. “Didn’t take as many shots or anything like that, just trying to get my conditioning up. I’m never pressured about taking that many shots. I know they’re going to come, I know they’re going to fall. But really the main goal was to try and come back and get a win.”
Both teams were playing the second night of back-to-backs. The Blazers fell 120-107 on the road against the Phoenix Suns in an In-Season Tournament game on Tuesday night.
The Jazz lost 131-99 on the road to the Lakers in a tournament game.
Jazz coach Will Hardy shook up his lineup a bit against the Blazers, starting Kelly Olynyk for the first time this season.
The Blazers appeared to be returning to nearly a full lineup after a spate of injuries. In addition to Henderson, Brogdon returned from a sore hamstring against the Suns and scored 19 points.
But Portland was still without guard Anfernee Simons, who tore a ligament in his right thumb in the season opener.
Portland built a 36-21 lead after Kris Murray’s basket midway through the first half. The Blazers led 65-46 at the break, and Grant led all scorers in the half with 11 points.
Grant’s layup capped a 9-2 Blazers run that stretched the lead to 77-55 in the third quarter. He finished with five 3-pointers to match his season high, and the Blazers had a season-best 17 3s.
“I think we’ve been doing a good job of creating 3-point shots, we just haven’t been able to knock them down,” Billups said. “Today we had several guys who were able to knock shots down.”
UP NEXT
Jazz: Utah hosts New Orleans in a pair of games on Saturday and Monday.
Trail Blazers: Portland visits the Milwaukee Bucks and former Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard on Sunday afternoon. Lillard was traded to the Bucks in the offseason after 11 seasons with Portland.
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