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Utah Jazz at Blazers Recap: Fourth quarter run screams depth and grit

PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 7: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz shoots the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during a pre-season game on October 7, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 7: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz shoots the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during a pre-season game on October 7, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Utah Jazz moved to 4-0 in preseason play with a win over Portland thanks to a strong effort from the reserves in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Utah Jazz were able to come from behind and defeat the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. They were behind for most of the game, but scored 39 points in the fourth quarter and got a ton of energy from the bench.

Grayson Allen, Alec Burks, Royce O’Neale, Georges Niang and Ekpe Udoh closed the game, and won it for the Jazz. At one point, the team was on a 19-0 run in a matter of minutes. This lineup really put a pounding on the Blazers reserves.

That fourth quarter was fun to watch, but the three quarters before that were, quite frankly, ugly. Utah’s defense was nowhere near where we are accustomed to seeing. The Blazers flat-out outplayed the Jazz for the majority of the night, and that’s a concern.

Being 4-0 in preseason is great, but it may be a bit misleading. Two of the four wins were against non-NBA teams. The other two wins were against Toronto and Portland, but Utah’s regular rotation was vastly outplayed by Toronto and Portland’s regular rotation.

At the end of the day, it’s a win. There are plenty of positives and negatives you can take from any game, so the Jazz just have to make adjustments and get prepared for the regular season, when the serious basketball starts.

Getting back to the game, it was impressive to see Utah’s depth pay off in that fourth quarter. Guys like Udoh and Niang are great to have on the end of the bench. On a different team, they could be key reserves, but on this incredibly deep Jazz team, they have to fight for a spot in the rotation.

Niang has looked good all preseason long. He had nine points and three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Royce O’Neale’s defense was awesome as always, and Grayson Allen continued his strong play.

Allen and Alec Burks have been battling for the backup shooting guard spot, and it’s going to be interesting to see who gets the nod when the regular season starts. It’s probably going to be AB, but Allen has made a name for himself. I, personally, think he deserves a spot in the rotation.

The starters struggled Sunday night, as I noted earlier. Donovan Mitchell led the way with 21 points, but his shot selection wasn’t the greatest. Everyone’s defense was subpar as well. It was just an interesting night for that lineup. Mitchell did shake off an ankle injury he suffered during the third quarter. He went back to the locker room but was quickly back on the bench.

Utah went undefeated in preseason last year, and they’ll have a chance to repeat that feat when they face off against the Sacramento Kings in the preseason finale on Thursday.

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