by Alma Bean
Feature Image by Rick Bowmer of AP Photo
The Utah Jazz (3-7) takes on the Portland Trail Blazers (3-6) as they look to not only get their first win streak of the season, but to go 2-0 in the In-Season Tournament.
It’s Purple Time!
Utah came out of the locker room hungry to start this game. Being aggressive driving to the paint, shooting from the perimeter whenever the opportunity presented itself and applying heavy pressure on defense. Though Utah came out eager on the perimeter, doesn’t mean that the result was in their favor. Shooting 2/11 (18.2%) from the perimeter with Jordan Clarkson (30/1/3), who decided to get hot early, making both of those three-point attempts. With Clarkson shooting an astounding 6/7 (85.7%) from the field and taking advantage of Portland’s injuries at the guard position, Portland had their own advantages. Deandre Ayton (22/10/3) very quickly took advantage of Utah’s smaller presence in the paint shooting 4/7 (57.1%) from the field and able to get easy putbacks and rebounds in the process. At the end of the quarter, Utah surprised their fans as they did not commit a single turnover in the first quarter as they held onto a 36-28 lead.
After trailing by as much as ten points in the first quarter, Portland looked like they were still a bit lost in the second quarter. So lost in fact that Collin Sexton (13/4/7) felt comfortable enough to execute a no-look between the legs pass to Kelly Olynyk (12/12/3) for three in transition. With aa play like that, it looked to have ignited the flame that Portland needed to make things competitive. Shaedon Sharpe (17/8/7) shooting a comfortable 2/4 (50%) from the field while accounting for eight of Portland’s points for the quarter. Even with allowing 30 points in the quarter, Utah put up an impressive, methodical first half and finished the second quarter with a 67-58 lead.
When It Rains, It Pours
After having a quickly good first half, Jerami Grant (26/2/1) wanted to make sure that Utah would respect him on all levels of the floor in the third quarter. Shooting 4/5 (80%) from the field in the first half, Grant then shot 5/9 (55.6%) from the field in the third quarter bringing his point total to 23. Even with Grant’s contribution, the quarter was a true call and response matching each other point-for-point. Utah managed to not let Portland get the upper hand, they finished the quarter with a 95-86 lead.
With a win close at hand for both teams, the players started playing as if their lives depended on it. Defenses were kicked into high gear for Utah as they limited Portland to 4/23 (17.4%) shooting from the field. Portland didn’t want Utah to gain too much ground and tried to limit their contact with only one trip to the free throw line in the second half. With seeding for the In-Season Tournament at stake, it was the rookie Keyonte George (15/4/7) that came through with consistency in the second half. Shooting 3/5 (60%) from the field and showing Utah that they have a true facilitator on their roster getting a team-high of seven assists in the game. Skylar Mays (6/5/10) did all that he could in his second start of the season getting a game-high ten assists to stay within striking distance. After a hard-fought battle Utah was able to pull away with a 115-99 win and get their first win streak of the season and push their In-Season Tournament record to 2-0.
What’s Next
Utah will get a two-day break before they welcome the Phoenix Suns (4-6) for their third In-Season Tournament game at home on Friday.
The Hive Sports 
Leave a Reply