Heading into the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ game on Wednesday at the Utah Jazz, it was a game where I thought Cleveland could maybe pull out a win if they shot the lights out, or Utah was simply off.
Now, it was evident that Rudy Gobert would be out in the game, as he’s currently in COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and the Jazz have had issues in the past few games without him. Utah lost to the Detroit Pistons, who are in the beginning stages of a full-rebuild (Cavs fans can relate in recent seasons) on Monday, and the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, who seem at a crossroads.
Even with that playing out of late, and Utah being without a bunch of players in health and safety protocols, a few of which were notable rotational contributors, I did still have my concerns about the Jazz’s shooting among key guys. That was with them being first in the league in offensive rating and true shooting rate coming in; they were off here, with them shorthanded, and shot just 40.0 percent.
Plus, Darius Garland had reportedly been dealing with back soreness in Cleveland’s narrow win at the Sacramento Kings on Monday, and Rajon Rondo was out versus Utah with a hamstring injury. That’s a situation that could be tricky with hamstring injuries, for context, and it’s not surprising that with Cleveland’s injuries, they’re reportedly still seeking backcourt help via trade.
In looking at this Jazz game, in particular, though, it was nice to see the Wine and Gold rebound after a disappointing loss at the Golden State Warriors on Sunday and an up-and-down performance at Sacramento on Monday.
Cleveland would cruise in the second half on Wednesday, and even with Gobert out, to go with Hassan Whiteside, Rudy Gay, and with Joe Ingles getting ejected, it was still a way for Cleveland to get back on track.
So with that in mind, what was the biggest takeaway, and on the flip side, what aspect of the game for Cleveland, or a particular performer, perhaps underwhelmed?
We’ll get into those things here, regarding the Cavs stud and dud in this big W in Utah.
There were a few clear candidates for the Cavs stud, but ultimately, I went the overall team-first route.