Utah Jazz Bounced By Lillard, Trail Blazers in Season Opener

Despite a valiant effort, the short-handed Utah Jazz suffered a hard-fought loss to Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.

The first night of the 2016-17 NBA season is officially on the books. And while much of the basketball world was focused on the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs doing battle or the Cleveland Cavaliers raising their championship banner, the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers began the season with a bang at the Moda Center.

Despite missing their two best players in Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors, the Jazz fought hard for 48 minutes and got big-time performances from newcomer Joe Johnson and old standby Rodney Hood.

Nevertheless, the Blazers were able to hang on for a 113-104 win to extend their league-record streak of home opening wins to 16.

With much of the offensive burden falling to him in Hayward’s absence, Hood came out firing from the jump. He finished with 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting in the game.

However, it was Johnson’s late-game duel with Blazers star Damian Lillard that stole the show. After failing to make an impact in the first half, Johnson looked like the Iso Joe of old in the second half, scoring 27 of his team-high 29 points and missing just four of his 16 shot attempts.

“I was just coming out and trying to be aggressive,” Johnson said after the game “and just kind of got it going thanks to my teammates. … At the end of the day, it’s basketball. I’ve been around this league for quite some time. I’m just trying to pick my spots and just play within the offense. That’s what I did.”

With the Jazz wing duo leading the charge, the Jazz scored 37 third quarter points to capture the lead after trailing for most of the first half. However, Lillard and the Trail Blazers answered in the fourth quarter with 36 points of their own to regain the advantage and capture the win.

Lillard was simply too much for the Jazz defense to handle. The Blazers star hit timely, momentum-stopping shots and dropped 39 points in the game, making 13-of-20 from the field and nailing four three-pointers. He also added nine rebounds and six assists.

Meanwhile, his backcourt mate C.J. McCollum finished with 25 and hit two three-pointers of his own. On the whole, the Blazers made an incredible 13-of-19 from three-point range. They were also plus-11 in second-chance points.

In addition to the play of Johnson and Hood on the wings, George Hill played well for Utah. The team’s new starting point man put up 19 points, six assists and two steals in his Jazz debut. Rudy Gobert also did well to hold down the paint without his frontcourt partner-in-crime, scoring 12 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking two shots.

He didn’t log heavy playing time, but Dante Exum’s nine-minute stint was also big for the Jazz after the 21-year-old missed all of last season with a torn ACL. He finished with five points and two rebounds in his comeback performance and was aggressive in driving to the basket.

The Jazz also did well to take care of the ball, committing just 11 turnovers in the game.

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Johnson, Hood and Co. will be back in action on Friday with their home opener against D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and a rebuilding Los Angele Lakers squad.