Collin Sexton scored a season-best 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting and Simone Fontecchio also posted a season high with 24 points on 7-of-8 shooting as the Utah Jazz beat the host Portland Trail Blazers 122-114 on Thursday night.
Talen Horton-Tucker added 23 points and Ochai Agbaji tallied 16 for Utah, which won back-to-back games for just the third time all season. Walker Kessler had 10 points and 10 rebounds and matched his career best of seven blocked shots for the Jazz, who led by 32 points in the third quarter.
The Jazz won despite Lauri Markkanen, an All-Star last season, sitting out for the ninth time in 10 games due to a hamstring injury. Keyonte George (ankle) also sat out one night after being injured against the New York Knicks.
Rookie Scoot Henderson had season bests of 23 points and 10 assists and Toumani Camara added 18 points for the Trail Blazers, who lost their fifth consecutive game.
Portland leading scorer Jerami Grant (concussion) missed his fourth straight game. Deandre Ayton had 14 points and nine rebounds after missing three games with a knee injury. Malcolm Brogdon (knee) returned after a two-game absence but had just nine points in 14 minutes.
Duop Reath scored 15 points for the Trail Blazers and Jabari Walker added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Thursday’s contest was the final one in the regular season between the two teams. Utah won three of the four games.
Utah made 53.3 percent of its shots and made 11 of 33 from 3-point range, with Fontecchio making all five of his attempts to match his career best.
Portland shot 41.7 percent, including 16 of 45 from behind the arc.
It was a three-point margin two-plus minutes into the second quarter before the Jazz went on a 13-3 run to take a 55-42 advantage with 5:56 left in the half.
Utah led 69-54 at the break, with Fontecchio and Sexton each contributing 16 points. Camara had 14 in the half for Portland.
The Jazz delivered the knockout punch in the third quarter, with a 23-4 burst. Fontecchio scored Utah’s first eight points during the burst and Dunn punctuated it with a dunk to make it 92-60 with 4:44 remaining.
Utah’s lead was 103-76 entering the fourth quarter. Sexton’s trey gave the Jazz a 120-96 lead with 4:15 remaining before Portland greatly trimmed its losing margin.
–Field Level Media
