The Utah Jazz came to town last night in a much-anticipated matchup. It was Donovan Mitchell’s first game against his old team, and the same was true for Lauri Markkanen (Collin Sexton didn’t suit up due to injury) playing the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The build-up to the game featured some in-depth features on the trade for both players. Chris Fedor had an excellent interview with Lauri over at Cleveland.com, discussing how Markkanen loved being in Cleveland and was shocked to hear he had been traded. Mitchell did a revealing interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears on his time in Utah, including his personal struggles with the racial prejudice he witnessed in Utah, and his confidence in what the Cavs are building in Cleveland.
Then the game began, and it was an all-Cleveland display of two-way dominance in a 122-99 victory. Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting (4-of-5 from deep) and Cedi Osman scored 22 of his own, including 20 in the 4th quarter. Jarrett Allen had 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Darius Garland had 17 points and eight assists.
The only players in double-figures for the Jazz were the Cavaliers alumni: Lauri Markkanen had 24 points to lead all scorers, and Jordan Clarkson had 23. It’s the fourth-straight win for Cleveland, and Justin Brownlow breaks down the game further on the site.
More Cavs news
Lauri Markkanen and Donovan Mitchell also headlined another piece yesterday, breaking down the All-Star picture and selecting all 24 All-Stars at this point in the season. Mitchell was picked as one of the East’s starters; did any other Cavaliers make the cut? You can start voting for All-Stars starting today.
In Las Vegas, the G League Showcase event is now underway, where personnel from around the league gather to watch every team in the G League compete in a tournament format. The Cleveland Charge balled out in their first game last night, with Isaiah Mobley putting up a line of 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists; Sharife Cooper and Mamadi Diakite each had 25.
NBA news
Damian Lillard became the Portland Trail Blazers’ all-time leading scorer last night, passing Clyde Drexler, but a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander buzzer-beating jumper spoiled his night. Credit rookie Jalen Williams, whose hard cut off the inbound forced the Blazers out of a double-team and gave Shai the 1-on-1 matchup he needed.
Elsewhere, Luka Doncic and Jason Kidd were ejected from the Dallas Mavericks’ loss to the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves, the Milwaukee Bucks dominated the New Orleans Pelicans down in the Big Easy, and the Philadelphia 76ers came back to beat the Toronto Raptors in overtime.
Coming up: The Cavs get a day off before continuing their homestand against the Bucks, who are up 2-0 in the season series thus far.