----- Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles combine for 61 points as the Utah Jazz hold off a late rally by the Portland Trail Blazers to get the win 121-115 Thursday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Trail Blazers had a furious fourth quarter rally, but come up just short in a 121-115 loss Thursday night in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 of his 35 points in the second half and Joe Ingles finished with 26 points, five rebounds, and four assists
The Jazz led the Blazers 62-52 at halftime and pushed their lead out to 20 points entering the fourth quarter at 96-76. Portland opened the final quarter on a tear charging back into the game on a 26-7 run cutting the deficit to 103-102. back to back buckets by Mitchell and Ingles pushed the Jazz advantage back to five at 107-102. Mitchell had an answer for every Blazers threat down the stretch.
Rudy Gobert, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds, forced Carmelo Anthony into an air-ball with 22.4 seconds remaining and blocked Damian Lillard's driving layup with 5.2 seconds remaining helping squash Portland's comeback hopes in the fourth.
Damian Lillard led Portland (14-18) with 34 points, CJ McCollum finished with 25, and Anfernee Simons scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting.
After missing all 10 of his three-point attempts on Monday night against the Pelicans, Lillard connected on 7-of-13 from beyond-the-arc. The Blazers made 15 of their 34 shots from downtown.
Notes- Utah acquired Jordan Clarkson from Cleveland for guard Dante Exum and two future second-round draft picks on Tuesday.
Hours after passing his physical, Clarkson checked in with 4:05 left in first quarter and made a pull-up jumper off the dribble, a minute later. He got nine attempts in his 11-minute stint and scored 9 points but missed all three of shots in the second half.
The 27-year-old Clarkson averaged 14.6 points per game this season. In his final game for the Cavaliers, Clarkson scored a season-high 33 points to lead Cleveland over Memphis.
Exum, the No. 5 overall pick in 2014, didn't play in his last six games.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers return to Portland to meet the Lakers on Saturday night at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Can't get down by 23 points at Utah and expect to win.