Utah's rally comes up short as Jazz fall to Trail Blazers at home

SALT LAKE CITY — All in attendance was nearly a witness for the Svi Mykhailiuk legacy quarter.

Down by 15 points entering the final quarter, Mykhailiuk caught fire for the Utah Jazz. The Ukrainian native scored 14 points in the final quarter after not registering any playing time over the past three games.

The only issue was the Jazz could not get enough stops on defense to pull off the comeback, and the Jazz fell at home to the Portland Trail Blazers 135-119.

"There's times he's been a starter, there's times he's out of the rotation and he always handles himself with a ton of class; he's always prepared," Jazz head coach Will Hardy said of Mykhailiuk. "He's a great teammate. We are lucky to have Svi in our organization."

On top of Mykhailiuk's performance, Brice Sensabaugh put on a show with his shotmaking skills on full display all game and scored 28 points to lead Utah in scoring.

"I started the year off a little slow, but as of late just trying to be a consistent 3-point shooter for our team and just trying to contribute as much as possible to winning," Sensabaugh said. "That's what I've been mainly focused on."

Earlier Thursday, Jaren Jackson Jr. was ruled out indefinitely for knee surgery to remove a growth that was discovered by an MRI during his physical he received as part of his trade to Utah.

Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George were also absent from Thursday's game, leading to extended minutes for other players, such as Sensabaugh.

Fresh off a newly signed two-way deal with the Jazz, Blake Hinson made his NBA debut Thursday and scored 11 points in his first game with Utah after appearing in 30 games for the Trail Blazers G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix.

"I thought Blake showed a ton of physicality," Hardy said. "Obviously, the ability to catch and shoot. He hasn't had much time with us so I think he handled himself great — kept it pretty simple for most of the game."

Hinson averaged 23.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists with the Remix this season and was selected to compete in the 2026 Next Up Game as part of NBA All-Star Weekend.

"It was intense," Hinson said. "I settled in pretty quick, but it was definitely intense, definitely a little nervous."

The Jazz faced an early 11-point hole but battled back to take a lead to closeout the opening quarter. During a back-and-forth second quarter, Vince Williams Jr. was ejected after receiving two technical fouls for a reaction to an offensive foul called on him.

Williams was guarded tightly by Portland's Ryan Rupert while bringing the ball up the court and it appeared he and Rupert's arms got hooked, which led to the offensive foul call.

The Jazz were able to withstand the loss of Williams for a short while due to the play of Sensabaugh, as well as Ace Bailey and Kyle Filipowski, who scored 15 points apiece. Bailey also grabbed eight rebounds and Filipowski finished with nine.

After taking a lead into the halftime break, the Trail Blazers came out firing to open the second half. A quick 9-2 run forced Hardy to call a timeout, but Portland was unfazed.

"I think we just came out a little too flat," Sensabaugh said. "It's been a theme for us in the past."

The Trail Blazers, led by Jrue Holiday, turned the tides of the game in the third quarter and outscored Utah 40-23 to take a commanding lead, with its peak at 17 points.

Holiday led the Blazers with 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a do-it-all game for the two-time NBA champion.

The most dominant performance from a Portland player came from center Donovan Clingan, who scored 23 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds. The big man also flashed his playmaking ability with seven assists.

The Jazz made a spirited effort to close the gap in the fourth but were unable to overcome the deficit. But Mykhailiuk brought instant energy and offense once being inserted into the game. Mykhailiuk forced a timeout from Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter after getting a steal and bucket to cut the deficit to 6 points.

"He was great for us tonight," Collier said. "Hit big shots, got us back in the game, gave us a spark, gave us energy."

It nearly looked as if Mykhailiuk's spark could carry Utah to the win, but Portland continued to make shots down the stretch and time ran out on the Jazz's comeback attempt.

Utah will be off until Feb. 20 for the NBA All-Star break, but fans can watch Bailey in the Rising Stars challenge Friday night (7 p.m. MST, Peacock).

"Just another blessing and an opportunity, and I just want to take advantage of it," Bailey said.

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