Utah Jazz: A 23-point turnaround lifts Utah past Portland

"It's amazing how the play of the year can be a preseason play," Evans' favorite alley-oop partner Earl Watson said. "That has to be top five plays of the year already. That was pretty incredible. I want to see it on film, but it was amazing."

He wasn't the only Jazz player in the locker room with that opinion.

"The stuff he can do is amazing," Hayward said of Evans. "Each time he does it, it seems like it's a shocker, but at the same time it's like, well, that's Jeremy."

Evans won't argue the other 32 Jazz fouls, but he thought this was a clean dunk.

"You've got to talk (to) the refs about that one," he said, obviously bummed it wasn't counted. "No, I didn't (charge). I feel like I'm still a young guy, so some calls won't go my way. I won't argue with them."

Offseason acquisition Raymond Felton led Portland with 17 points, while ex-Jazzman Wesley Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge, back from a heart procedure, added 15 points apiece.

New Blazer Jamal Crawford missed an overtime-forcing 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Overall in this one, the Jazz were happy to have turned the tables on the Blazers — who are without retired guard Brandon Roy — in a 48-hour period.

It was a nice home debut for a team that's been in flux for the past 10 months.

"It was a good atmosphere," Hayward added. "We were playing hard out there and it was good that we got the win. We've got to get better defensively =85 and offensively we've got to get sharper with our cuts and our plays, but it was an improvement from the other night."

They couldn't get that one call, but they'll at least settle for that.

Email: jody@desnews.com

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