On January 6 (Beijing time), the Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Utah Jazz in a regular-season matchup and dominated from start to finish behind Deni Avdija. Portland built a lead as large as 32 points, turning the game into garbage time early. The Blazers eventually won 137–117, extending their streak to three straight victories, while the Jazz fell to four consecutive losses. Avdija also reached the 5,000-point milestone in his NBA career. However, controversy emerged as Yang Hansen didn’t enter the game until the final 2:14 (roughly the last 134 seconds of action), despite the blowout.
Top performers
Blazers: Avdija 33 pts, 8 reb, 9 ast; Sharpe 29 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl; Camara 15 pts; Love 14 pts; Sissoko 14 pts; Clingan 12 pts, 17 reb, 3 blk; Murray 10 pts; Rupert 4 pts; Yang Hansen 4 pts.
Jazz: Markkanen 22 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl; Nurkic 21 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl; George 15 pts; Filipowski 13 pts; Collier 10 pts, 9 ast; Sensabaugh 8 pts.
Game flow
Portland weathered an early deficit, then swung the momentum with an 8–0 run and a barrage of three-pointers to take a 36–26 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, both offenses heated up, but Portland’s was on another level. Avdija was perfect in the period (5-for-5), knocked down two threes, and went 4-for-4 at the line for 16 points in the quarter alone, helping the Blazers extend the margin to 78–57 at halftime.
After the break, Portland continued to pour it on, pushing the lead beyond 30 and finishing the third quarter up 114–83. With the outcome essentially decided, the fourth quarter remained garbage time. Yang Hansen finally checked in with 2:14 left, scoring on a hook shot and adding two free throws to finish with 4 points as Portland cruised to a comfortable win.
