Jazz falls to the Blazers at the last second

PORTLAND — Lauri Markkanen hit the biggest shot of the night…at least up until this point.

Markkanen’s direct 3-pointer tied the game with 14.1 seconds left. Fourteen seconds later, however, Scoot Henderson celebrated winning the game.

Henderson got Walker Kessler to bite the rim before turning and hitting a game-winning jump shot to lead Portland to a 122-120 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday at the Moda Center.

Henderson scored 18 points and 10 assists in one of the best games of his young career after being selected No. 3 in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Markkanen led the Jazz with 25 points – including eight in the fourth quarter – on 8 of 14 shooting. Collin Sexton had 19 points and 11 assists, and the Jazz had five players reach double figures, even without Keyonte George, John Collins and Jordan Clarkson, all of whom were sidelined by injuries.

“This is a tough loss because I felt like our defense was really good for three quarters,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said.

This helped Utah build a 15-point lead in the second half before the game turned in the final 12 minutes. The Jazz gave up 23 points at the rim in three quarters and then allowed 24 at the rim in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense just fell apart,” Hardy said. “They put a lot of pressure on us and drive the ball downhill.”

Deni Avdija scored 12 points in the fourth to lead the comeback, and then Henderson finished it off with his downhill drive.

“It’s disappointing,” Hardy said. “The fourth quarter is the most recent feeling we have. But I thought it was three quarters of really good basketball from our team.”

Svi Mykhailiuk, starting his third straight game for the Jazz, scored 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting from 3-point range. Drew Eubanks added 15 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting night, and Johnny Juzang scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Rookie point guard Isaiah Collier started in place of George and finished the game with 7 points (all in the fourth quarter), seven assists and seven rebounds.

This story will be updated.