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Portland, Ore. • Before the game, Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said all the right things.
He called the four-win Jazz's record "misleading" and said he expected a fight.
"The reality is they're playing much better," the coach of the West's No. 1 team said, "and we need to maintain our same level."
The Blazers held up their end.
The Jazz? Not so much.
After looking like the team had turned a corner in recent weeks, Utah found itself on the wrong end of a blowout like it had so often the first few weeks of the season. Portland cruised to its 17th win of the season, trampling the last-place Jazz 130-98.
On a cold night in the Pacific Northwest, the Blazers blistered. The shooting clinic started shortly after 7 p.m. Pacific Time and concluded after 48 minutes of lopsided basketball at Moda Center.
Portland set a franchise record, hitting 16 3-pointers. Before the fourth quarter, when both teams' starters watched from the bench for very different reasons, the Blazers had hit on nearly 80 percent of their 19 3-point attempts.
Former Jazz man Wes Matthews sunk four of his six, en route to 24 points.
Weber State legend Damian Lillard went 5 of 6 from distance.
And forward Nicolas Batum was a perfect 3 of 3 from three.
"They shot a ridiculous clip from 3," said Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward. "They beat us tonight. I think you put this one behind us and we try to get a win tomorrow."
In the third, the Blazers all but ran the Jazz out of the building.
Portland opened up the period on a 22-3 run, as All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge took advantage of Evans in the post, scoring 11 of his 20 on the night. When Batum dribbled backward and fired up a 3, the Jazz trailed by 30. And when Burks missed a dunk on one end, falling to the ground as the Blazers started the break, Portland was able to break the 100-point mark - something the Jazz have only done four times this year - with more than a minute left in the third.
"I don't think it was a lack of effort," Hayward, the only Jazz starter to reach double-digits in scoring, with 10. "It just snowballed on us."
The performance, however, had Jazz coach Ty Corbin questioning where his players were on the defensive end of the court.
"You give up 40 points in a quarter and a 39-point quarter, they weren't on the floor," he said.
Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter combined for just 15 points and five rebounds.
Earlier in the week, Jazz rookie point guard Trey Burke said he was anxious to matchup with former Weber State standout and reigning rookie of the year Damian Lillard, hoping to gauge his own progress since the two met in preseason.
"I think I've come a long way since then," Burke had said.
Lillard showed how much further Burke still has to go.
The Portland point guard went off in the first half, scoring all 21 of his points in the first two quarters. Lillard crossed Burke over and hit a jump shot as the rookie regained his balance. Later, Lillard blew past the young Jazz man for an easy bucket.
On the other end, Burke began to press.
"You want to go back at him. You want to score," Burke said. "At the same time, I've got to run the offense. I've got to be the quarterback out there. I've got to know that. I could have done a better job."
He hit on just three of his nine attempts and had only one assist in the game.
Jazz coach Ty Corbin pulled him early in the second half in favor of backups Diante Garrett and John Lucas III.
"The energy was low," Corbin said. "They were getting what they wanted. I just didn't feel right about it. We needed to do something to change to see if we could get some energy somewhere."
The Jazz won't have much time to gather themselves. The team flew home after the game, and will play the Sacramento Kings Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena.
Storylines
O Portland goes 17-for-23 on 3-pointers and leads by as much as 41 points in beating the Jazz 130-98.
• The Blazers crack the 100-point mark with more than a minute left in the third quarter.
• Alec Burks leads Utah with 16 points. Trail Blazers 130, Jazz 98
FG FT Reb
Utah Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Jefferson 16:15 1-2 1-1 0-4 1 0 3
Favors 21:21 4-8 1-2 2-3 1 0 9
Kanter 20:23 3-8 0-0 2-2 0 2 6
Burke 16:21 3-9 1-2 0-0 1 1 7
Hayward 22:56 5-12 0-0 0-1 3 3 10
Biedrins 7:06 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 2 2
Burks 28:07 6-16 3-3 2-3 3 4 16
Rush 23:01 2-6 1-1 0-2 2 1 5
Evans 18:25 4-7 2-2 7-9 1 4 10
Garrett 25:20 2-5 0-0 0-2 4 1 5
Harris 15:59 4-6 2-2 2-4 0 2 10
Gobert 12:46 1-3 3-4 2-7 1 2 5
Lucas III 12:00 3-10 2-2 0-0 0 0 10
Totals 240:00 39-93 16-19 18-39 17 22 98
Percentages: FG .419, FT .842. 3-Point Goals: 4-11, .364 (Lucas III 2-3, Garrett 1-1, Burks 1-3, Burke 0-1, Rush 0-1, Hayward 0-2). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 17 (28 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Gobert 2, Favors). Turnovers: 16 (Garrett 4, Hayward 4, Kanter 2, Rush 2, Burks, Favors, Gobert, Harris). Steals: 17 (Garrett 3, Harris 3, Burks 2, Hayward 2, Kanter 2, Evans, Favors, Jefferson, Lucas III, Rush). Technical Fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
Portland Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Batum 28:16 5-6 0-0 2-7 3 1 13
Aldridge 29:07 7-14 6-7 3-15 4 0 20
Lopez 22:39 3-6 2-2 2-5 1 1 8
Lillard 25:24 7-9 2-2 1-3 6 1 21
Matthws 28:03 8-11 4-5 0-0 1 2 24
M Willms 20:07 3-4 0-0 0-1 3 1 7
Freeland 13:21 2-4 0-0 1-3 1 2 4
Wright 10:19 2-4 0-0 0-1 0 0 6
Robinson 18:53 4-8 5-6 3-6 1 3 13
Leonard 12:00 0-3 2-2 5-6 0 3 2
Barton 12:00 2-7 0-0 0-2 4 1 4
Crabbe 10:56 3-6 0-0 0-0 0 0 8
Watson 8:55 0-1 0-0 0-1 2 2 0
Totals 240:00 46-83 21-24 17-50 26 17 130
Percentages: FG .554, FT .875. 3-Point Goals: 17-23, .739 (Lillard 5-6, Matthews 4-6, Batum 3-3, Crabbe 2-2, Wright 2-3, M. Williams 1-1, Barton 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: 21 (26 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Freeland, Leonard, Lillard, Lopez, Wright). Turnovers: 21 (Batum 4, Freeland 4, Lillard 3, M. Williams 2, Wright 2, Barton, Crabbe, Leonard, Matthews, Robinson, Watson). Steals: 9 (Aldridge 2, Robinson 2, Batum, Crabbe, Leonard, Lillard, M. Williams). Technical Fouls: None.
Utah 22 34 13 29 — 98
Portland 39 28 40 23 — 130
Attendance • 19,833
Time • 2:03.
Officials • Ron Garretson, Steve Anderson, Eric Lewis.