Hayward, Gobert power Jazz past Portland
SALT LAKE CITY -- Gordon Hayward scored 30 points while Rudy Gobert added 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz to a 106-87 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Joe Johnson added 13 points and Shelvin Mack chipped in 12 off the bench for the Jazz. Utah (48-30) earned its seventh consecutive home victory.
C.J. McCollum scored 25 points and Damian Lillard added 16 to lead Portland. The Blazers (38-40) dropped their second straight game after winning six in a row and nine of 10 to get back into the playoff picture. They currently hold the last spot in the West, a half-game ahead of Denver, which has a game in hand.
Portland missed eight straight shots to open the game before Al-Farouq Aminu broke the ice with a basket 4 1/2 minutes into the first quarter. It opened the door for Utah to take control right away. The Jazz sprinted out to an 11-0 lead. Gobert opened the run with a basket and closed it with a layup off a lob pass from Boris Diaw.
Utah stayed in front throughout the first quarter behind the efforts of Gobert and Hayward. They combined for 22 points, accounting for all but two of the Jazz first quarter total.
Portland twice cut the Utah lead to five points near the end of the quarter, first on a layup from McCollum and then on a 3-pointer from Leonard. Hayward answered each basket, draining a 3-pointer and beating the buzzer with a jumper, to put the Jazz up 24-19 going into the second quarter.
McCollum scored three straight baskets, culminating with a go-ahead layup, to give the Blazers their first lead at 31-30 early in the second quarter. Utah did not trail for long. The Jazz answered with a 13-2 run, punctuated by back-to-back baskets from Dante Exum, and surged back in front 43-33.
Portland cut the deficit to four on four different occasions in the third quarter. The final time came on a fadeaway jumper from McCollum that trimmed Utah's lead to 55-51. That's as close as the Blazers could get.
Hayward hit a floater in the lane and drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead back to nine over the next two Jazz possessions. Utah stepped on the gas pedal early in the fourth quarter. Jeff Withey and Johnson each scored a pair of baskets to fuel a 16-4 run that put the Jazz ahead 88-68 with 8:37 left.
Exum suffered a right hip contusion after a hard fall on a drive to the basket with 3:53 left in the third quarter and did not return in the fourth quarter.
NOTES: Four players were sidelined for the Jazz. G George Hill (groin strain), G Raul Neto (groin strain), G Rodney Hood (knee soreness) and F Derrick Favors (knee contusion) did not play. Portland was without C Jusuf Nurkic (leg) and F Ed Davis (shoulder) who both suffered season-ending injuries in March. ... Jazz C Jeff Withey scored in double figures for the first time this season. Withey totaled 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in 13 minutes. ... Blazers G Damian Lillard scored his fewest points since totaling 13 points in a 111-88 loss to Utah on Feb. 15th. Lillard shot just 5-of-20 from the field. ... Utah outscored Portland 34-18 in the paint in the first half. Jazz also had a 25-16 edge on the glass during that stretch.