SALT LAKE CITY -- Exterminating the injury bug is turning into an impossible mission for the Utah Jazz this season.

The Jazz came into a critical game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night with 11 healthy players suited up. A third-quarter injury to Dante Exum reduced that number to 10.

Still, Utah found a way to persevere through like it has all season. The short-handed Jazz pulled away from Portland late in the third quarter and coasted to a 106-87 victory over the Blazers.

"It's the end of the year," forward Gordon Hayward said. "Everyone is banged up and trying to fight through it. But we need all the games we can get here, so we just got to try to fight through."

Hayward, who is still battling lingering soreness from a quad contusion, scored 30 points to lead Utah. Rudy Gobert added 20 points and 11 rebounds and three blocks. Joe Johnson also added 13 points and Shelvin Mack chipped in 12 off the bench for the Jazz.

Utah (48-30) earned its seventh consecutive home victory.

The Jazz attacked Portland's defense early and rained a barrage of high percentage shots down all night. They shot 13-of-23 from 3-point range and totaled 50 points in the paint. Hayward led the onslaught by shooting 60 percent from the field, including 4-of-6 from distance.

"The way they guarded me tonight, I was able to get some looks early -- with the big being back -- so there was a lot of space and a lot of room to operate," Hayward said. "That got me going early. Rudy did a good job of screening them and freeing me and then I could attack the big downhill and kind of have whatever I wanted."

C.J. McCollum scored 25 points and Damian Lillard added 16 to lead Portland. The Blazers (38-40) dropped their second straight game after winning six in a row and nine of 10 to get back into the playoff picture. They hold the last spot in the West, a half-game ahead of Denver, which has a game in hand.

Portland shot 39.8 percent from the field and made only 6 of 26 from deep.

"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "Our offense was a struggle most of the night. I thought we got good shots early and weren't able to connect on them and then it just kind of snowballed after that."

Portland missed eight straight shots to open the game before Al-Farouq Aminu broke the ice with a basket 4 1/2 minutes into the first quarter. It opened the door for Utah to take control right away. The Jazz sprinted out to an 11-0 lead. Gobert opened the run with a basket and closed it with a layup off a lob pass from Boris Diaw.

Utah stayed in front throughout the first quarter behind the efforts of Gobert and Hayward. They combined for 22 points, accounting for all but two of the Jazz first quarter total.

Defensively, Utah locked down Lillard and held McCollum in check until the second quarter.

"We have so much respect for their guards and I think that our guys know the urgency it takes to guard them, so they are working hard," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.

Portland twice cut the Utah lead to five points near the end of the quarter, first on a layup from McCollum and then on a 3-pointer from Leonard. Hayward answered each basket, draining a 3-pointer and beating the buzzer with a jumper, to put the Jazz up 24-19 going into the second quarter.

McCollum scored three straight baskets, culminating with a go-ahead layup, to give the Blazers their first lead at 31-30 early in the second quarter. Utah did not trail for long. The Jazz answered with a 13-2 run, punctuated by back-to-back baskets from Dante Exum, and surged back in front 43-33

Portland cut the deficit to four on four different occasions in the third quarter. The final time came on a fadeaway jumper from McCollum that trimmed Utah's lead to 55-51. That's as close as the Blazers could get.

Lillard acknowledged that playing on the road in a tight game against Minnesota a night earlier sapped some energy. But he said it shouldn't be used as an excuse for being so flat on offense.

"Everybody is tired," Lillard said. "The Jazz are probably tired. We never come into a game with excuses. We're professionals. Our job is to come out and play. There's not a crutch or anything like that."

Hayward hit a floater in the lane and drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead back to nine over the next two Jazz possessions. Utah stepped on the gas pedal early in the fourth quarter. Jeff Withey and Johnson each scored a pair of baskets to fuel a 16-4 run that put the Jazz ahead 88-68 with 8:37 left.

Exum suffered a right hip contusion after a hard fall on a drive to the basket with 3:53 left in the third quarter and did not return in the fourth quarter.

NOTES: Four players were sidelined for the Jazz. G George Hill (groin strain), G Raul Neto (groin strain), G Rodney Hood (knee soreness) and F Derrick Favors (knee contusion) did not play. Portland was without C Jusuf Nurkic (leg) and F Ed Davis (shoulder) who both suffered season-ending injuries in March. ... Jazz C Jeff Withey scored in double figures for the first time this season. Withey totaled 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in 13 minutes. ... Blazers G Damian Lillard scored his fewest points since totaling 13 points in a 111-88 loss to Utah on Feb. 15. Lillard shot 5-of-20 from the field. ... Utah outscored Portland 34-18 in the paint in the first half. Jazz also had a 25-16 edge on the glass during that stretch.