The Cleveland Cavaliers got steamrolled once again as the Utah Jazz were able to come away with an easy 115-99 win.
The Cleveland Cavaliers started the game off okay. The game was competitive for most of the first quarter. Unfortunately things got out of hand in the second quarter, as the Cavs were outscored 32-17 by the Utah Jazz.
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The Jazz switched to a 2-3 zone and the Cavs were never able to respond. The offensive got stagnant and everything went downhill quickly.
Donovan Mitchell dominated the game with relative ease. Last season’s Rookie of the Year runner up finished with 24 points and four assists on nine-of-15 shooting. Rudy Gobert dominated the Cavs’ injured front court with 19 points and 15 boards in just over 26 minutes of action, per ESPN.
Collin Sexton and Ante Zizic were Cleveland’s high scorers with 15 points apiece. Unfortunately, most of those points came in garbage time.
Here’s what we learned from another lopsided loss.
Injuries suck.
Injuries continue to take a toll on the Cavs. Ante Zizic was forced into the starting lineup with Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr., and Kevin Love all missing time with injuries.
The Cavs looked out of sorts on both ends of the floor. Thompson and Nance have done a good job of stabilizing the team (of sorts) on both ends of the floor this season. Unfortunately nobody has been able to pick up the slack when either isn’t out there.
Hopefully the team can get healthy soon. Love is getting closer to returning and was able to put together a solid workout before the game.
.@kevinlove is putting in work pregame. #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/em1MWzfprP
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 19, 2019
Unfortunately rough nights like this are to be expected when their three best players are out with injuries.