Portland Trail Blazers Team Report - April 5

(Basketball News) - The Portland Trail Blazers visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday at the Delta Center.

It is the third meeting of the 2004-05 campaign between the clubs. The Jazz defeated Portland, 92-87, in overtime on December 10th at the Delta Center, while the Blazers knocked off Utah, 98-88, on December 12th at the Rose Garden. The teams will play again on April 17th at Portland in the final contest of the season between the squads.

Portland has won two of the last three meetings in this series, while the Jazz have won six of nine and nine of the last 13 contests. The Trail Blazers have lost six of their last seven at Utah.

The Trail Blazers enter Tuesday’s game on a four-game losing streak. On Saturday, Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points and the Denver Nuggets put together a strong fourth quarter to come away with a 103-97 victory over Portland at the Rose Garden.

Damon Stoudamire finished with 27 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim compiled 20 points and eight rebounds in the loss to Denver for the Trail Blazers, who have dropped 11 of their last 12 overall. Rookie Sebastian Telfair registered a double-double, as he scored 16 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists.

Portland, which is 2-6 in Tuesday games this season, is a brutal 8-28 on the road. The Blazers will split their final 10 contests of the campaign evenly between the Rose Garden and the road.

Abdur-Rahim has scored 20 or more points in three straight games and is averaging 20.3 points, six rebounds and four assists in that span. He has recorded 11 double-doubles this season.

Telfair is averaging 17 points and nine assists in his last two games. He has scored in double-digits in six of his last 10 contests and has played more than 30 minutes in five straight games.

The Blazers, who are going to miss the playoffs for a second straight season, will host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Portland will then travel to New Orleans to face the Hornets on Sunday in the first of a brief two-game road trip.