The Utah Jazz return to the site of their biggest blowout victory of the season on Thursday night when they take on the host Portland Trail Blazers.
Utah wraps up a five-game, cross-country road trip in Portland, where it defeated the Trail Blazers by 42 points — 141-99 — on Dec. 6.
Reserve Johnny Juzang led the Jazz to that big win, scoring 22 points to pick up the slack for Lauri Markkanen, who missed the game because of a back injury. Walker Kessler also put together a strong performance, amassing 13 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks.
Utah led by as many as 46 points, leading Portland fans to boo the Blazers on their own court.
“That’s a really good team win start to finish,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said after the victory earlier this month. “I hope the guys feel good about it. They continue to work hard, they continue to stick together. We’ve had some tough moments, and they work through those. I hope they enjoy (the win), because they played really, really hard.”
The Jazz proceeded to lose their next three games but come into this rematch having won two of their past three outings while giving the Cleveland Cavaliers all they could handle in the one setback during that stretch.
Utah’s big three — Jordan Clarkson (27 points), Markkanen (26) and Collin Sexton (24) — all played well in a closer-than-it-looks 124-113 loss at Cleveland on Monday. The Jazz were within one point in the final minutes before the Cavaliers closed out strong.
The Jazz had momentum in that game after earning their first back-to-back wins of the season against the Detroit Pistons (126-119) and the Brooklyn Nets (105-94).
“The competitiveness, the togetherness that our group is showing has risen a ton in the last two weeks,” Hardy said after the Cleveland game. “I think it sets the environment up for real improvement to happen.”
As he was in the most recent game in Portland, Kessler was a big force for the Jazz against the Cavaliers. In addition to playing strong defense, the third-year center scored nine points to go along with 16 rebounds, three blocked shots and three assists.
“Walker has gotten so much better,” Hardy said. “His ability to impact winning without scoring a lot of points continues to grow.”
The Trail Blazers are back home after losing two games in Texas — a 114-94 decision against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday and a 132-108 defeat against the Dallas Mavericks two days later.
Portland has lost eight of its past nine games. Its lone win during that stretch did come at home, though.
Center Deandre Ayton, who led all Trail Blazers starters with 16 points against the Mavericks, said that his team continues to work on fundamentals and communication.
“Our defense is what really creates our offense, and gets us moving and grooving,” Ayton said. “We just need to make shots.”
Portland has dropped its past six games and 12 of its past 14 against Dallas.
