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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Just as they did in last season's
playoffs, rage and rebounding carried the Portland Trail Blazers
past the Utah Jazz.
|  | | Arvydas Sabonis helped put the clamps on the Mailman. |
Greg Anthony hit two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and the Blazers pulled away from the Jazz to win 85-75 Thursday night
in a game filled to the brim with hard fouls and emotion.
"It was a hotly contested game all the way," Portland coach
Mike Dunleavy said. "The big difference tonight was the guys came
in the game and controlled the glass and everybody who played
contributed to the win."
Portland, which has won four straight including victories over
the Spurs and Lakers, finally got a strong performance from
Jermaine O'Neal. The 21-year-old forward had played just 55 minutes
his last 11 games, but had 14 points and eight rebounds in 23
minutes.
"I've been waiting for a chance to show everybody that I'm
still capable of playing big minutes and helping the team win,"
said O'Neal, who signed a four-year, $24 million deal last summer
despite a career scoring average of 3.9.
Brian Grant added 12 rebounds and defended Karl Malone well.
Late in the game, Grant wrestled a rebound away from Malone, laid
the ball in and scowled furiously at Malone's back. The players had
tussled during the playoffs last season, when Malone opened up a
gash over Grant's eye in Game 5 of their semifinals series. The
Blazers went on to win in six games.
Utah tried to forget Wednesday night's embarrassing 17-point
home loss to Vancouver, but turned in an even worse performance
instead. The Jazz shot a season-low 32 percent, with Bryon Russell
going just 1-for-16 and scoring four points.
Malone had a season-low 12 points, leaving him 12 short of
joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain as the only
players in NBA history to score 30,000.
Utah's 75 points were the fewest the franchise has ever scored against the Blazers in 110 games over the past 25 years. Utah's previous low came in a 94-77 loss on Dec. 5, 1997.
"Portland was like a blanket on us all night," said Utah coach
Jerry Sloan, who was ejected with 2:26 remaining for arguing with
the officials. "Portland's defense wasn't going to let us catch
up. They outrebounded us; they went after the ball much better.
"We got beat by a better team."
A layup by Malone pulled the Jazz to 69-65 with 9:23 to go, but Bonzi Wells hit a short jumper and Anthony nailed a 3-pointer to make it 74-65. Anthony's next 3-pointer rattled in after several
bounces and sealed the game at 79-67 with 6:26 left.
"They rely heavily on getting uncontested shots because they
have some guys that can stroke it," Anthony said. "And we seemed
to always have a hand in their face whenever they took a shot."
Sloan was tossed shortly after Portland's Rasheed Wallace and Utah's Armen Gilliam were assessed technical fouls for shoving. Wallace, who received a technical earlier in the game, also was
ejected.
Anthony's 3-pointer put the Blazers ahead 36-34, but Utah scored
the last four points of the half to tie it at 42. Wallace was hit
with a technical, from the bench. After a free throw, Stockton hit
a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left in the period.
Wallace has a league-high 18 technicals this season and has been thrown out of three of the Blazers' last seven games.
Anthony has made six of his last seven from 3-point range.
Game notes
O'Neal became the ninth Portland player to lead the team in
scoring this season. ... Utah's "Big Three" of Malone, John
Stockton and Jeff Hornacek combined for 31 points, one night after
being held to 29 against Vancouver. ... Utah is 27-14 at the
halfway mark of its season. The Jazz was 32-9 after the same number
of games last year. ... Utah's shooting percentage was its lowest
since it shot 36 percent on Dec. 17 at Indiana. ... The Blazers
lead the league in shooting at 48 percent.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Utah Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Charlotte 117
Detroit 102
Cleveland 102
Orlando 90
Dallas 99
LA Clippers 90
Golden State 115
Houston 110
San Antonio 92
Minnesota 80
Portland 85
Utah 75
Vancouver 108
New Jersey 106
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