Damian Lillard in MVP Mode, Trail Blazers Rout Utah Jazz, 124-107

Portland Trail Blazers recorded another win, and after trashing the Lakers the night before, they outplayed the Utah Jazz tonight at Moda Center, 124-107. Damian Lillard once again dominated the court, and we can say that Dame became one of the frontrunners for the MVP award after his latest stretch of unreal performances.

“Don’t ask me about Dame. I’ve run out of superlatives. Write whatever you want,” said the Blazers’ head coach Terry Stotts to the journalists.

He would drop 51 points on the Jazzers, scoring nine three-pointers and going 17-for-29 from the floor. The Blazers’ point guard also had 12 assists and was perfect from the foul-stripe hitting all of his eight attempts.

“I’ve never been in this type of rhythm in my life,” Lillard said following the game.”you figure out the things that make you best.. I think I’ve just found that space.”

This was his fourth game of the season with 50 or more points and the fifth in the previous six with 47+ buckets. Dame set the NBA record with six straight games in which he scored at least six three-pointers. During the same span, he scored at least 45 points and posted 10 assists.

His Portland won this one, but they had to come back following an 11-point deficit near the end of the first period. A 15-0 series at the end of the second, gave them a 63-53 lead and a massive momentum, that guided them throughout the rest of the match.

Another burst late in the third, during which the Trail Blazers dropped 13 straight points, was what definitely solved this one and broke Utah’s resistance.

Portland’s players posted 51.2% from the field and were 51.7% from the three-point line, making 15 threes in 29 events. What also made a massive difference was the number of rebounds as Blazers dominated in this category 51-37, mostly due to Hassan Whiteside, who didn’t allow Rudy Gobert to contribute as he usually does.

The French international was limited to six points and 11 boards, while on the other side, Whiteside had a monstrous 21 rebounds and 17 points.

Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points, and CJ McCollum had 14.

Among the Jazzers who lost the last four matches, Donovan Mitchell scored 25, while Bojan Bogdanovic and Conley had 22 each. Jordan Clarkson added 11 off the bench and that was about it.

“Our exection needs to be better,” said Quin Snyder.

Utah had just nine free-throw shots, and that is a reflection of their pale offensive tactics. They weren’t attacking the basket as usual, and kinda look deflated when talking about the aggressiveness. Overall, the Jazz had just 19 fouls, and that tells a lot.

After being one of the hottest sides in the league, they seem to experience a crisis at the moment, and with four losses in a row Quin Snyder’s guys lost pace with the Nuggets and the Clippers in the hunt for that second place in the Western Conference.

Though, they will get the chance to improve those prospects already this Wednesday, once Denver comes to town. After that, Utah (32-17) awaits the Trail Blazers, and is going to have an opportunity to get even with them too. Overall, they will have a tough stretch in the near future, facing all the quality teams from both conferences, Dallas, Houston, Miami Heat, Spurs, etc.

On the other side, the Trail Blazers (23-27) are looking alive over the past few days. It is surely because of Lillard’s unreal performances, but as long as they win, nobody cares what’s in the middle of it. Stotts’ side travels to Denver to meet the Nuggets on Tuesday, then comes back home to face the Spurs, before going to Utah.