Trail Blazers at Jazz
The Portland Trail Blazers have thrived against Utah in recent seasons and aim to notch their 11th win in the past 14 meetings when they visit the Jazz on Wednesday. Portland won the past three matchups and included in the recent 13-contest stretch is a five-game winning streak from Dec. 6, 2013 to Feb. 3, 2015 that rates as the franchise's best against Utah.
The Jazz have dropped three consecutive games and recorded a season worst for points and shooting percentage (32.2) in Monday's 88-72 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. "We're a team that can talk about being better and being relevant but, at this point, we're relevant and no more than that," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said after the loss. "... You could have an explanation for some games, but this is a game where I'm disappointed." Portland arrives in Salt Lake City fresh off its own disappointment as it let a seven-point overtime lead slip away while suffering a 109-104 home setback against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. "It hurts. We thought we had this game, but that's the NBA," backup forward Ed Davis said afterward. "Good teams find a way to win, and teams that are struggling find a way to lose."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, KGW (Portland), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (23-32): Portland dropped five of its last seven games to fall two games behind the eighth-place Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference and now is beginning a stretch of four consecutive road games. "We believe in ourselves and we've got to keep fighting," standout point guard Damian Lillard told reporters. "You've got to keep fighting and stay with it because you just never know what can happen. We're definitely not in a state of our season is over. We're going to fight, we still believe we're going to be a playoff team and that's what we're going to work towards." The Trail Blazers are 9-19 on the road and the final three games of this trip are after the All-Star break -- visits to Orlando, Toronto and Detroit.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (34-22): All-Star small forward Gordon Hayward was one of the players who was awful in the loss of the Clippers as he tallied just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting after scoring 30 or more in four of the previous five contests. It was the second-lowest output of the season for Hayward and came in the same game that saw point guard George Hill (2-of-11) and backup forward Trey Lyles (0-for-9) also have abysmal performances. "I don't know if it was one of those nights, but we didn't play with force," Utah center Rudy Gobert told reporters. "We looked kind of nervous offensively. We looked like we weren't moving the ball like we used to or having fun like we used to and then we got down pretty quick."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lillard recorded 39 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the Trail Blazers delivered a 113-104 win on Oct. 25.
2. Portland C Jusuf Nurkic is expected to make his team debut after being acquired from Denver for C Mason Plumlee on Sunday.
3. Utah SG Rodney Hood (knee) will sit out his seventh straight game and is aiming to return after the All-Star break.