Jazz at Trail Blazers
The Utah Jazz shook things up at Thursday's NBA trade deadline, and then kept winning. The red-hot Jazz will try to extend their winning streak to nine games and return to .500 for the first time in over two months when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
"(The streak) means a lot," forward Derrick Favors told reporters after a 106-94 victory over Charlotte at home Friday night. "We're definitely in the playoff hunt. Guys are playing better, the team as a whole is playing better. We're focused. Dialed in every night. Defensively, we've been great. Offensively, things are clicking for us. We've just got to keep it up." Utah shipped away second-leading scorer Rodney Hood (16.8 points per game) and veteran Joe Johnson in a three-team deal that brought forward Jae Crowder and guard Derrick Rose over from Cleveland, although Rose is expected to be released. The Trail Blazers were relatively silent at the deadline and followed it up with back-to-back wins, riding Damian Lillard's season-high 50 points in 29 minutes to a 118-100 triumph at Sacramento on Friday. Portland has an impressive streak of its own with nine straight wins at home, matching its longest such run since a 12-gamer in 2008-09.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), NBCS Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (27-28): Utah had no issues trading Hood due to the development of rookie guard Donovan Mitchell, who scored 25 points in the win over the Hornets, and the increased production of Joe Ingles, now averaging 14.8 points in February after a career-high 23 on Friday. The team is 16-13 with Rudy Gobert in the lineup after the center went for 20 points and 11 rebounds against Charlotte, which was only the second home game during Utah's eight-game run. "There's always some games in the NBA season where you lay an egg and it has more to do with how you respond," Jazz coach Quin Snyder told the media. "Our guys have gained some confidence in general. The determination came before the confidence. They have pride, collective pride."
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (31-25): Lillard recorded the fourth 50-point game of his career through three quarters and chose to take it easy in the fourth with his team up 18. "I saw we were up 20 and I was like, 'OK, if we keep this lead, there's really no reason to go back in there," Lillard told reporters. "I'd rather have a 50 in 29 minutes with some character than go out there and chase 60. I feel like that's bad karma." The team's lone All-Star had 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the first meeting with Utah, a 112-103 overtime loss for the Blazers in Salt Lake City.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Utah's eight-game winning streak is its longest since a nine-game surge in the 2009-10 season.
2. Blazers PG Shabazz Napier made all five of his shots against Sacramento after going 3-for-17 in his first three games this month.
3. Gobert collected at least 10 rebounds in a season-high four straight games.