Officials’ Inexcusable Mistake Helps Utah Jazz Beat Portland Trail Blazers, 117-114

Caleb Swanigan missed the game-tying three-pointer as time expired, and his Portland Trail Blazers lost at home to the Utah Jazz. The final result of this interesting match was 117-114 for the hosts, who snapped a five-game losing streak with this victory tonight.

But there was one pretty rough moment in this event, which no doubt affected the final result. With nine seconds to go, fantastic Damian Lillard went for one layup, and Rudy Gobert blocked his attempt, but it was clear goaltending.

Dame was justifiably angry about the no-call.

(via @espn)pic.twitter.com/Qj0YfrYGwk

— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) February 8, 2020

The refs didn’t sound, which made all the Trail Blazers’ players extremely furious, especially Lillard, who was visibly frustrated after the game.

“Just a shame that it was decided by an inexcusable missed call,” said Terry Stotts, Blazers’ head coach. “They could have called a goaltending and reviewed it, but they swallowed their whistles.”

The tension was very high on the court throughout the entire contest and we can say that the refs are to blame for that.

Portland lost this one in the third period we might say, when they got outscored 30-17 ending up with just one-point lead instead of preserving a bit more of their 16-point advantage they had. The Blazers made a 16-2 run in the late part of the second and early third, which created the gap between them and the home side. Still, without Hassan Whiteside to maintain the balance under the rim, the guests couldn’t endure the pressure of the Jazz combines with several poor decisions by the officials.

Terry Stotts had to play small-ball without Whiteside, and it went solid. His team was performing well, and it is a pity they had to go down this way.

Lillard was once again fantastic, dropping 44 points on Utah’s defense, tearing them apart just as he did several days ago when Trail Blazers defeated them in Portland, 124-107.

The Dame hit 8 threes, had 6 assists and rebounds. CJ McCollum was right behind him, with 27 points, and five boards. Gary Trent Jr. had 16 points, while Hezonja added 11.

“It cost us a game. We’re competing for a playoff spot. The explanation I got pissed me off… makes me think you’re not capable of doing the job the way you’re supposed to. Which means you should be reprimanded and you should be fined accordingly,” said McCollum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMiVw99cqrw

Carmelo Anthony was battling with Gobert and all other players from the Jazz frontcourt. He finished with 5 points and 8 boards, but he needs to get credited for the hard work he had put in. Swanigan had 4 points and 11 rebounds.

Among the hosts, Bojan Bogdanovic scored a team-high 27 points, 10-for-16 from the field. Mike Conley had 18 points, while Gobert and Mitchell added 16 each. The French international had 14 rebounds as well, missing two of his nine shots from the field.

Mitchell had 7 assists, six boards, and two steals, battling with Lillard throughout the entire match. Ingles added 14 and Clarkson 13 points.

The Jazzers have 33 wins and 18 losses and fell behind the Nuggets and the Clippers over the recent stretch of poor results. They will have to beat both Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks on the road in the next few days to boost their chances in the race for second place in the West.

On the other side, Portland (24-29) recorded their third loss in the previous nine matches. They await the Miami Heat on Sunday and have a nice chance to win and forget this loss. The team from Florida didn’t start its tour through the West well and lost the second in a row against the Kings tonight.