Webster Was Blazing as Portland Tops Utah 103-89

Martell Webster had himself quite a night as the 21 year old forward scored a career high 26 points, and the Portland TrailBlazers avenged their loss early this week to the Utah Jazz beating them Saturday night 103-89. Portland saw their 13 game winning streak come to an end Monday night as they lost to the Jazz in Salt lake City 111-101. The win was third consecutive victory since the loss to Utah.

The Jazz played without starter Andrei Kirilenko who wrenched his back in practice on Thursday. Portland lost the services of Brandon Roy early in the game, he had bruised his tailbone in Thursday night’s win over the Chicago Bulls, and once he left the game his back stiffened up.

Utah led through the first half as they had a razor thin 23-22 lead at the end of the first quarter, and then led 42-39 at the end of the half. But the third quarter is when Webster took off scoring 24 points in the quarter and Portland went on a 21-4 run to take the lead 71-61. The TrailBlazers never looked back leading Utah 75-64 at the end of the period, and Utah was never a threat in the final quarter.

Webster shot 8-15 from the floor, 3-5 from outside the arc, and a perfect 7-7 at the line for his career high 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals, Travis Outlaw scored 14 points off the bench 6rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists. Sergio Rodriguez scored 12 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound.

Utah was led by Deron Williams who scored 23 points, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound, Mehmet Okur scored 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist. Veteran Matt Harpring came off the bench to score 14 points, 5 rebounds, Ronnie Brewer scored 11 points, 2 steals, 2 rebounds. Carlos Boozer who has led the Jazz all season long did not have a good night scoring just 6 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, in the loss. Portland is now 21-13 while Utah is 18-17.

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2 Responses to “ Webster Was Blazing as Portland Tops Utah 103-89 ”

Comments:

Russ Loede says:
January 6th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

Blazers remind me of that Jazz squad from last season, just without a true leader @ PG. By the way, if anyone is watching, Travis Outlaw is a flat-out scorer and has one of the best looking mid-range shots and a tremendous, unstoppable at times mid-range game ~ a lost arc in the NBA (besides for Kobe, Rip, and some others for the most part). Outlaw (Is Rashard Lewis-esque, as a player with size and length, thpugh he has a much better overall game for his reprotire) can become a 22-24 PPG scorer in this league with the added time on the court (starting role) and with more opportunites on the floor (attempts/off-season improvement on his game). The Core of Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge, and not to forget, the many and vast set of good role players that play aggressive and tough (fill-in perfectly and do the “right” things on the court which makes this team a team on the rise because of their different strengths and skills) for Coach McMillian, certainly offers team team a legitimate chance for years to come as a real contender well for now & the future ~ and as you get Mr. ODEN Back for next season, Watch Out 4 the Blazers to replace Dallas & Utah with the Spurs, Suns, and Hornets as the best teams in the West. The West is loaded w / solid teams that can score and the East is looking just as well on top, not too much @ the bottom… I hope NO and Portland make good moves/deals and get better to supplant the Mavs & Jazz, as I hope both these young teams progress from the inside (with the players they have now through their organization/draft picks) and from the outside (trades to bolster and improve their areas of neeed). NO = Versatile/Balanced SG/SF with Size that can defend the opposing team’s best players. Blazers = PG that can run the fastbreak and dish it off, to let Roy (Ultimate Swingman) play his natural 2-position. What will make or break these teams is how good their Clutch players will be down the stretch in KEY, Important, Close ballgames (PAUL has shown it so far), their overall team defense & defensive rebounding, and their will to win, as they improve to make it up their with the elite, upper echelon top class of the West/NBA. They are on the right track and making the right steps towards that category and department which holds the best.

Greg says:
January 8th, 2008 at 9:23 pm

Russ,
You make some fantastic points. I do not feel however that Roy is the prototypical swingman. He is a player that can play 3 postions - 1,2,3. He is the key to their offense. He generates their offense. I agree that Outlaw has been impressive and can also generate some offense. But w/o Roy I do not think Outlaw would be as effective. Portland will be an elite team next year and will contend for a title. But with the way they are playing this year I could see them knocking off a few teams along the way. As of today Portland is a better team then the Jazz, Mavs, Nuggets, and the Warriors (though the Warriors have impressed me off late). Let me know your thoughts.