SALT LAKE CITY — The Portland Trail Blazers entered Saturday's game against Utah with a backcourt problem and left with a 22-point victory.
Apparently, those are not mutually exclusive conditions.
With Ja Morant sidelined by a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, Portland needed other players to assume larger responsibilities. Deni Avdija scored 24 points, Damian Lillard added 22, and the Blazers beat the Jazz 112–90.
Morant, who joined Portland in the offseason, is scheduled to be re-evaluated in four weeks. That makes the Blazers' guard rotation less about the preferred plan and more about locating the next available person who can dribble professionally.
Fortunately, Lillard has some experience with the position.
Avdija supplied efficient scoring, hitting six of his 12 field-goal attempts, while Lillard contributed five rebounds and four assists alongside his 22 points.
Utah received 16 points from rookie Darryn Peterson but never found enough sustained offense to make Portland regret its improvised arrangements.
The victory doesn't solve the long-term problem created by Morant's absence. A comfortable win over the Jazz cannot replace an explosive guard, repair a hamstring or predict what Portland's rotation will look like next month.
It does, however, offer something considerably more useful than a reassuring press conference.
Evidence.
For one night, the Blazers' emergency plan worked well enough that the emergency was almost impossible to see on the scoreboard.
