For the most part, the Portland Trail Blazers reacted predictably to Sunday's 88-85 loss to the Utah Jazz.

After finally showing just a hint of mere mortality in allowing the Jazz to remain alive in this best-of-seven series, they were a tad out of sorts.

They'd been found guilty of bad shooting, sloppy ballhandling and stupid fouls, none of which was evident to any fatal extent in the first three games, all Portland victories.

They also showed frustration, disappointment, testiness and an inclination to blame the officials for their defeat.

"It's tough to play on the road," said Blazer guard Bonzi Wells. "You got 20,000 fans, plus the other 15 are against you."

In case math isn't your strong suit, "the other 15" was a reference to the 12 Jazz players plus the three officials. The box score doesn't seem to support Wells' contention that Utah got preferential treatment; the Jazz were called for five more fouls than the Blazers, and the teams each shot 34 free throws.

"It was pretty physical," said Portland coach Mike Dunleavy. "We let that get to us a little."

Wells and his teammates probably would be better off to look elsewhere to explain their demise, such as at their 37.5 percent field-goal effort or 16 turnovers or the offensive disappearance of starters Scottie Pippen and Arvydas Sabonis.

"We didn't get the intensity level we needed to until late in the game or until we were down 10 points at times," Dunleavy said. "We kept coming back, but when you flirt with danger the way we were flirting with it today, it's going to jump up and bite you."

If the Blazers are human, though, what they're thinking today is that Game 4 was oddly encouraging. They played easily their worst game, and they only lost by three. And even then they had a last-second chance to tie with a three-pointer.

"We played OK," Wells said. "Utah just made shots . . . It's all about doing that two games in a row."

That last was a little dig at the Jazz, which was uncharacteristic for the Blazers. They've talked in glowing terms for the past week about how much they respect Utah, but that was easy when they were drubbing them by double figures. After the narrow loss in Game 4, they were less gracious.

Wells, in particular, was cranky. After an outstanding performance in Game 3 earned him widespread acclaim, he said he'd waited all his life for the kind of media attention he subsequently received. But Sunday he suddenly developed an aversion to the media, and in fact even swore at and threatened one Salt Lake City newspaper columnist who was nervy enough to ask him about a remark he'd made to teammate Steve Smith.

"Punk (bleep), get out of here, (bleep)," Wells said. "You write that, I'm going to come after you."

Yikes.

Wells wasn't the only ornery Trail Blazer, either. Forward Detlef Schrempf, when approached by the media, said, "I just got nothing to say." The persistent press pressed on, however, and this exchange ensued:

Q: "Can you tell us the difference between tonight and the first three games?"

A: "We scored less points than them."

Q: "How did they hold you to less points?"

A: "They made more baskets than us."

Danke, Detlef.

The only Blazer to earn an "A" grade for this game was power forward Brian Grant, who came off the bench and muscled up for 16 points and 12 rebounds in the second half, giving him totals of 20 and 13 for the game — both team highs. When the Jazz threatened to pull away several times in the third quarter, it was Grant who kept them in it by working the boards and the paint.

"We didn't have too much energy in the first half, so I tried to bring some energy in the second half," he said.

Grant said the Blazers were undone by an indifferent start.

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"The first three games, we came out, jumped right on them, didn't give them any confidence," he said. "You get momentum on your side when things go your way a little bit."

And Grant was more realistic about the lack of calls than Wells.

"You're in Utah, they're down 3-0, you can't expect to get calls," he said. "We got some very questionable calls on the post-ups, but you just gotta play through it.


E-mail: rich@desnews.com

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