Friday night's tightly-contested matchup between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz ended in controversy, with the referees failing to blow the whistle on a goal-tending violation by Rudy Gobert on Damian Lillard's game-tying layup attempt. This controversial play transpired in the dying moments of the fourth quarter, and it pretty much sealed the deal on Utah's 117-114 victory.
There was a lot of reactions from both players and fans alike following the botched call, and for his part, Blazers veteran forward Carmelo Anthony gave his thoughts on how the game ended.
Carmelo: "I would rather lose fair and square … but to lose that way, I think that's what makes it frustrating."
(via @andyblarsen)pic.twitter.com/y3aLhUdatM
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) February 8, 2020
Anthony was actually pretty low key with his criticism of the game officials here. He delivered his message clearly, but at the same time, did not step out of bounds with his comments. The same cannot be said about Lillard, who was understandably upset with the unfavorable turn of events.
Anthony actually struggled in this one, going for just five points on 2-of-10 shooting, along with eight rebounds, two turnovers, and nothing more in 39 minutes of action. It was a different story for Lillard, as the All-Star point guard carried on with his out-of-this-world scoring barrage of late, finishing with a game-high 42 points (on 16-of-30 form the field, 2-of-3 from the line), eight triples, six rebounds, six assists, a steal, and two blocks.
Despite Lillard's heroics, though, the Jazz proved to be too strong for the Blazers. Bojan Bogdanovic led the way for Utah, scoring a team-high 27 points (10-of-16 shooting), with two 3-pointers, four rebounds, an assist, and two steals.
Portland is off on Saturday but will be back in action on Sunday, as they host a surging Miami Heat side.
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