Anfernee Simons scored 28 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers kick off a seven-game road trip with a 114-112 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz, who trailed by 13 points at one point, made a late rally thanks to a pair of 3-pointers in the final 11.7 seconds by Keyonte George.
Simons followed George’s first late three by sinking two free throws with 8.8 seconds left, putting Portland up 113-109. After George’s trey with 4.2 seconds to go, the Blazers’ Jerami Grant split a pair from the foul line to make it a two-point game.
George’s last-second 3-point attempt and Utah’s comeback came up just short.
Grant hit five 3-pointers in the first half and sank three late free throws, including two with 13.7 seconds left, in a 20-point effort.
Deni Avdija compiled 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Scoot Henderson logged 17 points and six assists as Portland won for the 12th time in 17 games.
Portland saw its second-half double-digit lead evaporate, as Utah went on top 92-90 on Brice Sensabaugh’s 3-pointer with 8:54 to go. The Blazers, though, answered with nine straight points, including a Simons 3-pointer with 7:19 remaining. Avdija later made two free throws to push the Portland lead to 107-97 with just over three minutes left before holding on for their second win in a row.
Sensabaugh scored 21 points, George produced 21 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Kyle Filipkowski added 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Jazz.
Utah, playing without five veteran rotation players, had a chance to win at the buzzer despite only shooting 39.8 percent from the field. The Jazz were 18-for-44 (40.9 percent) from 3-point range but just 21-for-54 (38.9 percent) inside the arc.
The Jazz have lost six of their past eight games, and they are 2-3 on their nine-game homestand.
Grant’s fifth 3-pointer of the first half gave Portland a 61-48 lead near the end of the second quarter.
Isaiah Collier gave Utah some momentum going into the locker room by draining a half-court heave at the buzzer, trimming the Blazers’ lead to 61-51. That bucket ended Utah’s six-minute scoring drought.
After the Jazz jumped ahead by two in the fourth quarter, Henderson responded with two buckets and assists to Grant and Simons to help Portland regain a seven-point lead with a 9-0 run. Utah chipped away at its deficit again in the final minutes.
–Field Level Media
