Rod Strickland and Arvydas Sabonis provided the offense Wednesday night as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz 98-90 to even their first-round playoff series 2-2.
Strickland had 27 points, seven assists and six rebounds as Portland won its second straight at home to force a deciding Game 5 Sunday in Salt Lake City. Sabonis scored 25, hit all three of his 3-point attempts and grabbed 13 rebounds.Portland took the lead for good in the first six minutes, led by as many as 17 in the second quarter, and was up by 21 in the third.
With stars Karl Malone and John Stockton suffering through horrible shooting nights, the Jazz got no closer than eight in the second half.
Strickland capped the victory by sinking two 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter. His first, with 5:13 to play, put the Blazers up 89-75. His second, with 2:40 to go, made it 92-77.
Jeff Hornacek was the only consistent offensive threat for Utah, scoring 30 points, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Malone was 4-for-16 from the field and 7-for-12 at the foul line for 15 points, 17.7 below his series average. Stockton had 11 points and 11 assists, and was just 3-for-13 from the field.
Clifford Robinson scored 15 points for the Blazers despite foul trouble.