The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped their eighth-straight contest on Friday night, falling to the Utah Jazz by a final score of 117-91. No one would’ve guessed a trouncing after watching the first half of play, though.
After a first half that saw the Cleveland Cavaliers do nearly everything right, an unexpected thumping came at the hands of the Utah Jazz throughout the third and fourth quarters. Cleveland was outscored 69-42 in the second half. All of their defensive effort seen early one evaporated as the game went on, allowing the Jazz to shoot at will and find good looks to connect from.
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It was a mostly good night for former Jazz members Rodney Hood and Alec Burks. Both players had moments during Friday’s contest where they seemed to find a flow on offense.
For some reason, the Cavaliers didn’t capitalize on that and decided to spread the wealth on minutes amongst ten players.
Nonetheless, Hood and Burks combined for 29 of the Wine and Gold’s 91 points.
The Cavs, who have had problems with generating quality scoring attempts through ball and man movement much of the season, only registered 14 assists against Utah’s tough team defense.
For Utah, it was a total team effort. Eight players scored in double-digits for the Jazz and the squad shot 51.2 percent from the floor, per ESPN.
Second-year guard Donovan Mitchell led the way with a game-high 18 points, shooting seven-for-12 from the floor.
Mitchell also knocked down three triples and added five assists in a very reserved night from the highly-explosive player. With him on the floor, though, the Utah Jazz were a plus-28 (again, according to ESPN).
Let’s talk about this one before moving on to the home battle against the New Orleans Pelicans.