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Recap: Jazz 102, Trail Blazers 97
Line Movements
Date: April 02, 2012 10:00 PM EDT
  

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Two dunks from Paul Millsap and a pair of Portland turnovers helped the Utah Jazz overcome a three-game stumble in their chase for a playoff spot.

Paul Millsap finished with 31 points, including the go-ahead dunk with 1:11 to go, and the Jazz beat the Trail Blazers 102-97 Monday night to move within a game of Houston for the eighth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference.

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``The will not to lose, the will to make it to that next level to get in the playoffs, it came out,' said Millsap, who added 11 rebounds to help Utah avoid matching its longest losing streak of the season. Utah dropped four straight from Feb. 19-28.

LaMarcus Aldridge hit two straight jumpers to pull the Blazers to a 94-all tie before Wesley Matthews made a 3-pointer to give Portland the lead with 2:35 left in the game.

After Al Jefferson's short jumper narrowed it for the Jazz, Raymond Felton had the first of two crucial turnovers for the Blazers and Millsap's dunk gave Utah back the lead.

Jamaal Tinsley's steal on Nicolas Batum's inbound pass to Felton led to another dunk for Millsap to make it 100-97 with 20.9 seconds to go and the Blazers couldn't catch up.

Batum took the blame for the steal.

``That's on me because I have to watch everything,' he said.

But Felton took the ire of the fans for his role in both turnovers. One fan angrily proclaimed as he left the Rose Garden that he wouldn't renew his season tickets unless the Blazers got rid of the much-maligned point guard in the offseason.

``I'm just as mad as anyone else,' Felton said. ``Ain't no one as mad as I am.'

Matthews led the Blazers with 33 points and Aldridge added 27.

Jefferson had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz. Gordon Hayward had 20 points.

``We didn't want (the Blazers) to be able to get the ball where they wanted to get it,' Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said about the final moments. ``Jamaal did a great job of getting his hand in there and getting the steal, and a great save to get control of it and run the clock a little bit. Great effort play.'

Tinsley started in the second half in place of Devin Harris, who sprained his left ankle in the first half. Harris was averaging 10.1 points and 4.9 assists for Utah coming into the game.

Portland, coming off a 119-106 victory over Minnesota the night before, was without Jamal Crawford, who has tendinitis in his right knee. But the Blazers did see the return of Joel Przybilla, who sat out against the Timberwolves because of a right knee sprain.

Portland led by as many as 14 in the first half but Utah pulled ahead with a 16-0 run bridging halftime.

The Blazers took a 27-17 lead on Aldridge's dunk off an alley-oop from Matthews. Luke Babbitt hit a 3-pointer that extended it to 43-29.

The Jazz closed the gap as the half wound down, pulling to 57-54 at the break.

Utah opened the second half on a 10-0 run, going up 64-57 on Millsap's long jumper. The Jazz stretched the lead to as many as 11 but Portland rallied to pull within 71-69 on a dunk by Aldridge.

J.J. Hickson's dunk got the Blazers as close as 79-78, but the Jazz kept Portland at bay to take an 83-78 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Portland fell to 5-6 under interim coach Kaleb Canales, who took over when Nate McMillan was fired at the trade deadline. Canales has been juggling his lineups while dealing with different injuries. After the loss to the Jazz, the 34-year-old interim coach was clearly disappointed.

He wouldn't say that the Blazers were ready to give up on the playoffs, but Portland was four games back of Houston and three back of Utah in the conference.

``We're staying in the moment and we're taking it game by game,' he said. ``This one is going to hurt until 12:01 tonight and then we have to turn the page and look forward to tomorrow.'

Notes: Matthews made 10 of 12 shots from the field, becoming one of just six NBA players to have 33 points on 12 or fewer shots since 1995, according to the Blazers. He's the first since Yao Ming on Dec. 5, 2008. ... Babbitt, in his second year with the Blazers, has flourished as he's been getting more minutes with multiple 3-pointers in six straight games. ... The Jazz were coming off a 105-96 loss to the Clippers on Saturday. ... Injured Jazz G Raja Bell had an injection in his injured left knee on Monday and remains out indefinitely, the team said. Bell has missed 11 games with the injury. ... The Jazz return home to host Phoenix on Wednesday. ... Portland hosts New Jersey on Wednesday.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2013
The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

 CLOSING LAS VEGAS LINE
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 UTH  +115   +2   198 
 POR  -135   -2   
LAS VEGAS LINE MOVEMENTS

 CLOSING SPORTSBOOK LINE
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 UTH  +115   +2   198.5 
 POR  -135   -2   
OFFSHORE LINE MOVEMENTS

 BETTING TRENDS
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 UTH  28%   32%   52% 
 POR  72%   68%   48% 
BT MOVEMENTS

 NBA RECAPS
 Monday, Apr 2
 
  •  Bucks at Wizards
7:05 PM EDT
  •  Rockets at Bulls
8:05 PM EDT
  •  Grizzlies at Thunder
8:05 PM EDT
  •  Clippers at Mavericks
8:35 PM EDT
  •  Jazz at Trail Blazers
10:05 PM EDT
  •  Timberwolves at Kings
10:05 PM EDT
 
 
 
  
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