Portland faces conference foe Utah
Utah Jazz (7-21, 14th in the Western Conference) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (9-20, 13th in the Western Conference)
Portland, Oregon; Thursday, 10 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Utah Jazz visit Deni Avdija and the Portland Trail Blazers in Western Conference action Thursday.
The Trail Blazers have gone 3-4 against division opponents. Portland ranks third in the league with 12.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Deandre Ayton averaging 2.9 offensive boards.
The Jazz are 3-19 in Western Conference play. Utah allows 119.5 points to opponents while being outscored by 9.2 points per game.
The Trail Blazers are shooting 43.9% from the field this season, 4.2 percentage points lower than the 48.1% the Jazz allow to opponents. The Jazz's 45.7% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.3 percentage points lower than the Trail Blazers have given up to their opponents (48.0%).
TOP PERFORMERS: Avdija is scoring 12.6 points per game with 5.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Trail Blazers.
Walker Kessler is scoring 10.5 points per game and averaging 10.7 rebounds for the Jazz.
LAST 10 GAMES: Trail Blazers: 2-8, averaging 110.1 points, 41.2 rebounds, 24.9 assists, 6.7 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.2 points per game.
Jazz: 3-7, averaging 111.9 points, 45.9 rebounds, 25.0 assists, 6.4 steals and 6.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.9 points.
INJURIES: Trail Blazers: Robert Williams III: day to day (ankle), Matisse Thybulle: out (ankle).
Jazz: John Collins: day to day (hip), Keyonte George: day to day (ankle), Taylor Hendricks: out for season (fibula).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.