The Portland Trail Blazers (45 - 25) defeated the Utah Jazz (31 - 40) 92 - 89 on Wednesday. Iron man Damian Lillard led Portland with 23 points, 12 assists to go along with eight rebounds. He stepped it up as his team was without French swingman Nicolas Batum, who was out with a back injury. LaMarcus Aldridge has been dealing with hand and finger injuries all season but still manages to make the lineup on most nights. He sat out Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors but was able to give it a go against the Jazz. He had 19 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes. He and his fellow superstar teammate Lillard, were determined to end their losing streak at five games and scored 13 straight points to end the game. Despite their losing streak, that was snapped on Wednesday, they still hold a top five record in the Western Conference. The Jazz were without their leader Gordon Hayward for the second straight game, as he's dealing with a collarbone injury. Elijah Millsap was chosen to to start at small forward in his place. Millsap did a nice job; he scored nine points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and two assists. Utah held a 10 - point advantage heading into the fourth quarter but could n't hold off the duo of Lillard and Aldridge. The Denver Nuggets will host the Jazz on Friday, and the Trail Blazers will head to Phoenix to take on the Suns.
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