Have to admit – that was surprising.

You never quite know what to expect out of preseason games, especially the first one, but the Blazers showed a lot to like in beating Utah 110-90 at the Rose Garden on Monday.

You really saw the Blazers playing the faster-paced style Nate McMillan has been trying to instill in the first quarter, when Portland outscored the Jazz 32-19. True, the Blazers registered zero fast-break baskets in the quarter by the official scorekeeper, but you could really see the faster tempo by how quickly the Blazers were getting shots up.

Not once in the quarter did the Blazers come anywhere near a shot clock violation. The deepest the Blazers went into the shot clock before scoring was with five seconds left. They scored nine times with 13 seconds more left on the shot clock in the quarter.

It’s a dramatic change from last season, when the Blazers played early or late with the shot clock – meaning if they did not get a shot off in the first seven seconds after taking possession, McMillan wanted them to wind the clock down to set up a good shot.

“I thought those guys did a good job of pushing the ball, spacing was good,” McMillan said. “We had good ball movement.”

The Blazers didn’t quite keep up the pace all game, but they certainly made the effort. We all know McMillan has talked about pushing the tempo for years, but for the first time, he has a point guard in Raymond Felton who is able to do so.

Portland scored 110 points – a total they hit just six times all last season. Granted it’s an exhibition game against what seems to be a Jazz team at a crossroads, but things are looking very interesting for the Blazers.

Certainly, they played with more urgency than Utah showed. Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said his team had been working hard in practice and was disappointed that the same effort was not on display at the Rose Garden. He added that the Blazers showed a definite sense of urgency.

“Portland guys came out with a purpose,” Corbin said. “They wanted to demonstrate that they’re going to want to compete for the West, and they act like that.”

Other tidbits, notes and links from Monday’s game:

• Nate McMillan’s repeated dire warnings that early play could be a sloppy mess turned out to apply to Utah, but not the Blazers, who surprise with

, The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman reports.

• The O’s John Canzano

, he suggests calling the ticket office and ordering playoff tickets.

• Two areas the Blazers fell short – three-point shooting (6 for 23) and rebounding (deficit).

McMillan sounded OK with the shots the Blazers got, just not with his guys missing them. “I think 10 of those three-pointers were wide-open looks. So we have to knock down those shots.”

The rebounding was a different story. At times, the Blazers played small lineups that had Gerald Wallace or Nicolas Batum at power forward. That helps Portland play a faster tempo, but McMillan realizes the trade-off of being vulnerable on the boards.

“If we can rebound with that unit, we’ll play it,” McMillan said. “But sometimes you can get pounded doing that.”

• Besides the game, Monday’s other notable event was owner Paul Allen breaking a two-year drought of speaking to media that cover the team. What did he say? Well, he’s not selling the team, he won’t go back to his big-spending ways, Kevin Pritchard asked to be fired, and Rich Cho is a good guy but things didn’t work out. The O’s Jason Quick has

of Allen’s news conference, and you can listen to

of the entire session or read the

.

• It’s hard to know what to make of the Jazz, who are in the awkward spot between being a playoff perennial and a team that might be rebuilding. Utah also is adjusting to Jerry Sloan being gone, and operating under Corbin.

There seems to be one very nice piece in 20-year-old second-year forward Derrick Favors, who at 6-foot-10, 248 pounds, is a big-time physical specimen with impressive athleticism. Favors was Utah’s one bright spot, getting 25 points and 12 rebounds.

“All the work I was putting in this summer is finally paying off,” Favors said. “I was ready to get out there and play.”

• Monday’s game marked the debuts of three of the newest Blazers, Jamal Crawford, Kurt Thomas and Craig Smith. Crawford, we know plenty about, but Thomas and Smith really showed they can contribute.

Thomas showed a good shooting touch, making 4 of 6 field goal attempts. If he can consistently knock down the mid-range jumper, as he has shown throughout his career, he can really help open up the Blazers’ second-unit offense.

Thomas also showed savvy defense. At 39, he blocked two shots and had three steals, and you could see he just knew where to be and how to use his hands.

Smith came in late, and although he only played 7:51, he showed nice playmaking, twice setting up shots for teammates with passes out of the post. He also scored four points.

“Smith came in and gave us another look, a guy that can post up and you can give him the ball,” McMillan said.

• We have

on the site. Joel Odom has comments from

, and Sean Meagher has

news conference.

• All this optimism, of course, could go up in smoke when the Blazers play these same Jazz on Wednesday in Salt Lake City. Utah could have forward Paul Millsap back.

with right quadriceps tendinitis but is listed as day-to-day, the Deseret News’ Jody Genessy reports.

Oh, I guess the Blazers could get one of their guys back, too – LaMarcus something or the other. McMillan mentioned Monday that he expects Aldridge, barring something unforeseen, to take part fully in practice Tuesday and play (and start) in Wednesday’s game.

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