Trail Blazers 105, Jazz 94
SALT LAKE CITY -- Forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 24 points hours after being named the Western Conference player of the week, lifting the Portland Trail Blazers to a 105-94 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena.
Utah, which lost 130-98 in Portland on Friday, made a game of it in the fourth quarter despite trailing by 15 points in the second half and playing without injured starting big men Derrick Favors and Marvin Williams.
The Blazers (18-4) held off the Jazz (4-19) with late back-to-back 3-pointers.
After Utah trimmed Portland's lead to five on a pair of free throws from shooting guard Gordon Hayward, forward Nicolas Batum swished a shot-clock-beating 3-pointer from 29 feet with 1:03 remaining.
Point guard Damian Lillard, who played college ball just north of the arena at Weber State, followed that with a trey on the Blazers' next possession.
Lillard, who received a loud ovation from his former college fans, scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. Center Robin Lopez contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds, ex-Jazz guard Wesley Matthews netted 16 points, and Batum finished with 11 assists, eight rebounds and seven points.
Guard Alec Burks scored 20 points off the bench and center Enes Kanter had 19 points for the Jazz, who lost their fourth straight game.
However, the Jazz had a much better showing than they did Friday, when they allowed the Blazers to hit 17 of 23 3-pointers and fell behind by a season-high 42 points in a Rip City blowout.
On this night, Portland only made six of 19 from long range, but the final two proved decisive.
Aldridge opened the second half on a tear, hitting three long jumpers in the first two minutes. That sparked an 8-2 spurt, helping Portland go ahead 59-47 at the 9:57 mark of the third quarter.
The Blazers stretched the lead to 15 points later in the period after a 3-pointer from forward Dorell Wright and free throws from forward Joel Freeland.
Portland led 85-71 with just over eight minutes remaining when the Jazz started chipping away at the lead with an 11-4 run.
NOTES: The Utah Jazz will honor Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan in a banner-raising ceremony on the night of Jan. 31 at EnergySolutions Arena when the team hosts the Golden State Warriors. During his 23 seasons as the Jazz's head coach, Sloan led the team to two NBA Finals during the John Stockton and Karl Malone era, seven division titles and 20 playoff appearances. He finished his career ranked No. 3 in NBA coaching wins (1,221-803). ... The arena gave Sloan, now the organization's senior basketball adviser, a standing ovation when the announcement was made Monday night. ... F LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers to big wins over the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah last week while earning his Player of the Week award. His best game last week came in a Dec. 4 win over Oklahoma City when he totaled 38 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. It was the fifth time in Aldridge's career he earned Player of the Week recognition.
