The Portland Trail Blazers ended a three-game trip Wednesday night by defeating the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. In a wild track meet at the Delta Center, the Blazers built a 22-point fourth-quarter lead, then held on to eke out a 136-134 win and finish their first trip of the season with a 2-1 record.
They say you can learn a lot about a team on the road, so here are three things we learned about the Blazers this week:
The Portland Trail Blazers guard Blake Wesley during an NBA preseason game at Moda Center on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
NO. 1: BLAKE THE MENACE
It became clear a week into training camp that the last player signed to the 15-man regular roster — Blake Wesley — was starting to carve out a role with the Blazers this season. But no one could have imagined this.
Wesley hasn’t just carved out a role, he’s emerged as a menace after five games.
The jitterbug guard’s full-court pressure has been so disruptive and difference-making, opposing coaches have started to account for him in their pregame scouting reports and scheme around him in their game plans.
“He looks like a totally different player than the player that I watched in San Antonio, just in terms of his confidence and his defensive intensity and energy right now to pressure the basketball,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “It’s the biggest concern you have playing those guys, just being able to get into your offense.”
Wesley is averaging 6.2 points, 3.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 17.6 minutes per game, but his statistics don’t adequately reveal just how impactful he has been. His relentless defensive pressure has changed the tenor of games, inspiring teammates and frustrating opposing guards with equal precision. He has forced a pair of turnovers in four of five games this season for a total of eight, but his in-your-face, baseline-to-baseline defense has been so disruptive, he might as well have double or even triple that. Wesley has caused multiple eight-second violations, he’s drawn offensive fouls and he’s forced harried shots and shaky passes.
In the opener of the trip, Wesley was a thorn in the Clippers’ side most of the night, but never more than a roughly three-minute stretch in the second quarter, when he snatched a pair of steals. His ridiculous pressure caused Chris Paul and Bogdan Bogdanovic to grow visibly angry and prompted Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter to say that Wesley “changed the whole game for us.”
Wesley also had a memorable second-quarter stretch in the finale of the trip. It started when he swiped a steal on an inbounds pass and sprinted the other way, then finished when he deked a flummoxed defender with a look-away move on the perimeter and cruised into the lane for a reverse layup. Then, on the Jazz’s next possession, Wesley drew an offensive foul.
The fourth-year guard is not an imposing offensive threat — he’s 2 for 9 from three-point range and defenses have been daring him to shoot — but he embodies the Blazers’ identity and his teammates feed of his passion and never-ending motor.
“I love Blake,” Deni Avdija said in Los Angeles. “I love how he plays. I love his intensity. And we need him. We need him. We need this from him. He’s hyping us all up, and he sets the standard for sure.”
NO. 2: CRUNCH TIME CONCERNS
The Blazers’ breakneck offensive pace is both suffocating and fun to watch. But it’s also a necessity because of the team’s roster makeup.
What the Blazers bring in speed, athleticism, length and depth, they lack in half-court facilitators and scorers. And their half-court deficiencies surfaced twice during the trip.
The Blazers lost to the Clippers because they wilted down the stretch and couldn’t generate scoring in half-court sets, much like they did in a season-opening defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Portland entered the fourth quarter facing a five-point deficit and proceeded to make just one of their first seven shots, allowing the Clippers to build an 11-point edge. Finally, in the closing minutes, the Blazers made just 1 of 4 shots.
Overall, in the make-or-break final period, the Blazers shot just 17% from three-point range (2 for 12) and coughed up five turnovers.
Three nights later, the Blazers nearly blew a 22-point lead against the Jazz because they eased off the accelerator on offense midway through the fourth quarter in an effort to run time off the clock. But the move sapped their offensive momentum and opened the door for the Jazz, who capitalized on the Blazers’ half-court woes.
“We tried to slow down a little bit and then we missed shots,” Splitter told reporters. “We were open … we just missed shots and they got the momentum back. We’ve just got to study that, see what we can do better and, as a team, grow from that.”
The good news against the Jazz? Jrue Holiday saved the Blazers with clutch late-game free throws and solid defensive, avoiding a total collapse.
NO. 3: DEPTH FOR DAYS
The Blazers have been touting their roster depth since media day and it proved to be a strength during the trip — especially against the Jazz.
Splitter used 12 players, all saw time in the first half, and all contributed.
The Blazers’ bench combined to score 50 points as Jerami Grant (18 points, two steals), Wesley (10 points, three assists, two steals) and Duop Reath (nine points, two assists) helped the team complete a winning trip.
Grant, of course, is the anchor of the Blazers’ bench. He leads the NBA in bench scoring, averaging 21.6 points per game, and his smooth shooting, sturdy defense and veteran presence is immeasurably important to the Blazers’ success.
But he’s hardly alone.
The Blazers rank sixth in the NBA in bench scoring, averaging 43.0 points per game.
Reath’s performance against the Jazz, in particular, is an illustration of just how deep the Blazers’ bench can be. He had not played outside of mop-up duty this season, but surprisingly entered the game in the second quarter and promptly swished three long-range shots, snatched a steal and delivered an assist, fueling a 46-point quarter.
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