Jazz 111 - 105 Trail Blazers
Final
  for this game

Blazers welcome Jazz to the Moda Center

Apr 11, 2015 - 1:43 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Trail Blazers will try to get back into the win column, starting Saturday night when they welcome the Utah Jazz to the Moda Center.

The Blazers, the Northwest Division champions, are embroiled in a tight race in the Western Conference standings, but, by virtue of being a division winner, they're guaranteed to host a first-round series.

Portland has lost two of its last three, including Thursday's road setback to the Golden State Warriors, 116-105.

The Blazers couldn't handle MVP favorite, Steph Curry, who shot 17-for-23 from the field, en route to 45 points. He made eight 3-pointers with his fifth breaking his own record of 272 made 3-pointers in a season.

LaMarcus Aldridge needed 24 shots to score 27 points for the Blazers, who saw Arron Afflalo exit early with a shoulder injury. Damian Lillard netted 20 points with eight assists and six rebounds in defeat.

A Nicolas Batum bucket gave Portland a 93-92 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Curry took the reins, rode the momentum of the crowd and carried Golden State to its 15th straight home win.

"Lots of ebbs and flows," Blazers head coach Terry Stotts said. "We showed we can play with them"

Afflalo was diagnosed with a right shoulder strain and is expected to miss one to two weeks. One week would mean the rest of the regular season, but two weeks would run into the Blazers' first-round playoff series.

This is Portland's final home game of the season. The Blazers will finish the campaign on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.

The Jazz had a two-game winning streak come to an end Friday night with an 89-88 home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz are fighting for the Southwest Division title.

Memphis led 89-86 with just over a second left to play, but the Jazz found new life when Marc Gasol was whistled for a foul on his block of Gordon Hayward's corner 3. Hayward converted the first two free throws of his game-deciding trip to the charity stripe, but when his final attempt drew back iron, the Grizzles clinched the much-needed win.

Hayward led all scorers with 27 points, while Rudy Gobert registered a double- double with 14 points and 14 boards. Rodney Hood contributed 18 points for Utah.

"We made a couple of mistakes in the first quarter, but other than that we did great," Gobert said.

Utah led 86-72 with 4:43 remaining in regulation. Memphis scored seven consecutive points before Hayward's late free throws.

The Blazers won two of three meetings this season and three straight as the host in this series.






Related News