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Blazers split home-and-home set with Jazz

Feb 3, 2013 - 8:19 AM Portland, OR (Sports Network) - Damian Lillard scored 23 points and the Portland Trail Blazers split a home-and-home set with the Utah Jazz by taking a 105-99 victory on Saturday at the Rose Garden.

Nicolas Batum fell just shy of a triple-double, registering 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while J.J. Hickson and LaMarcus Aldridge also each posted double-doubles in Portland's fourth victory in six games.

"I get points and assists very easily. It's rebounds that are really tough to get," Batum said. "For me, to get a triple-double, the hardest part is rebounds."

Hickson tallied 21 points with 11 rebounds and Aldridge totaled 18 points along with 11 boards in the triumph. The Trail Blazers were without Wesley Matthews, who sat with a sprained ankle.

Randy Foye tied a season-high with six triples to lead the Jazz with 23 points, but Utah suffered its 17th loss in 26 road contests this season. Paul Millsap finished with 18 points and Marvin Williams followed with 15 in the setback.

The Jazz held a 46-43 lead at the half and after hitting a pair of triples earlier in the period, Foye knocked down his fifth 3-pointer of the night to expand Utah's advantage to 63-53 midway through the third.

However, Portland responded with a 14-0 run that put them in control the rest of the way, as Lillard and Luke Babbitt each buried a triple before Will Barton scored his second basket of the surge to put the Trail Blazers on top 67-63.

Al Jefferson's hook ended the run, but Aldridge added a three-point play before finishing an alley-oop in the final seconds of the third to send Portland into the fourth with a 72-67 advantage.

After Nolan Smith buried a triple to push the Trail Blazers' edge to 79-71, the Jazz answered with eight straight points to tie the game, however they never jumped back in front.

Smith, who scored nine of his 13 in the fourth, buried another triple later in the session and Aldridge's turnaround fadeaway gave Portland a 97-89 lead with 1:33 remaining.

Foye's final triple of the game brought Utah within 99-96, but Hickson sank four free throws before Batum connected on a pair from the line to seal the win for Portland.

"We played hard. We made some mistakes. We had the 10-point lead but got away from executing a little bit and they made a run at us," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "I felt good about our opportunity to come back, but we just couldn't get over the hump."

Game Notes

Portland improved to 17-8 at home this season ... Utah had won six straight against the Trail Blazers coming in ... Gordon Hayward missed his fourth straight game for Utah with a sprained right shoulder ... The Trail Blazers shot 10-for-18 from beyond the arc, while the Jazz connected on 8-of-19 3- point attempts.