Ohio State remains at No. 3 in second College Football Playoff Poll
November 10, 2015Balancing the macro and micro of Cavs season: While We’re Waiting…
November 11, 2015Utah Jazz (4-3) 114
Cleveland Cavaliers (7-1) 118
Box Score
It didn’t come easy, but the Cavs beat the Utah Jazz Tuesday night to improve to 7-1 on the young season. It was their seventh straight victory, and one in which they put up damn near 120 points on one of the best defensive teams in the league. Utah did an admirable job of regaining control of the game after falling behind early and then staying alive until the game’s dying moments. In the end, however, a dominant LeBron James fourth quarter turned the tide, and the Cavs rode it into the winner’s circle.
Utah had played six games before their date with the Cavs, winning four. They’ve been successful thanks to the league’s stingiest defense, not turning the ball over, and rebounding at a top-10 rate. They entered the game against the Cavs as the league’s slowest team in terms of pace and among its least accurate from the field. They are, however, among the league’s best at converting points into turnovers and preventing opponents from doing the same. In short, they smother you to death and play smart.
The Cavs looked at those shiny defensive stats and spit on them in the first half. They scored 52 points in the first two quarters, second-most of any Jazz opponent thus far. They made over half of their shots and 7 of their 13 three-point tries, continuing a promising trend of unselfish play and sharp ball movement. The passing got a little sloppy as things went on, but they assisted on 15 of their 19 field goals and had Utah chasing ghosts on defense. Mo Williams came out hotter than a two-dollar pistol in a whore’s purse in a church in Death Valley, scoring 15 points and hitting his first six shots.
LeBron produced an early highlight at the expense of Rudy Gobert, Utah’s 7-foot-2 center and the league’s top shot blocker.
Utah hung tough, however, and climbed within four points by halftime. Utah hit the glass hard, outrebounding the Cavs and grabbing eight offensive boards. They scored 26 of their 48 first-half points in the paint, leveraging their huge front line of Gobert and 6-10 Derrick Favors. Gordon Hayward overcame a slow start to score 13 first-half points, with Favors and sixth man Alec Burks both scoring 10. The Jazz harassed the Cavs into turnovers and were the happy beneficiaries of some unforced ones. It looked like the home team might run away with it, but the visitors were up to the challenge.
It was around then that LeBron decided he’d seen enough
It was around then that LeBron decided he’d seen enough
The Jazz did better than just hang tough in the second half. All in all it looked like the best game the Cavs have played in all season, and Utah was a worthy foe. Utah took a 76-75 lead late in the third quarter, their first since the game’s opening moments, and got it all the way up to 95-86 with 7:15 to go. The Cavs looked decidedly sleepy for stretches, particularly on the defensive end. Utah scored on ten straight possessions at one point. The Cavs were in real danger of losing this one with about five minutes to go.
It was around then that LeBron decided he’d seen enough. James went on a brilliant run of all-around play that re-energized the building and put the Cavs ahead for good.1 He grabbed an offensive rebound away from Gordon Hayward, leading to two Kevin Love free throws. He ripped away another loose ball, setting up a Richard Jefferson layup. He scored a driving layup of his own, toying with Alec Burks beforehand. He drew a charge on the next possession. This all happened in about three minutes as part of an 18-3 run. He added a running hook to make it a 109-105 lead with 49 seconds to go.
It wasn’t an easy win, as Utah forced the Cavs to sink all of their free throws down the stretch, but a win it was. The Jazz aren’t yet a great team, but on this night they played hard, played well, and put forth a commendable effort in defeat. With that, let us explore the numbers…
31, 8, 7 — On its face it looks like a fairly standard LeBron James statline: 31 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds. The numbers, however, underscore just how much he controlled this game. He scored 17 in the fourth quarter, making 6-of-8 shots and 5-of-8 free throws. He was perturbed by a non-call on a bounce pass — and likely frustrated by an earlier near-clear path foul that nullified a Richard Jefferson dunk — and turned that energy onto his opponents. The Cavs reclaimed the lead on a muscular and-one, which did well to sum up the whole night.
You can’t hold back @KingJames. #CavsJazz on @FoxSportsOH https://t.co/Q73k5TUZYV
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 11, 2015
29, 6, 6 — LeBron had a fine all-around game, but how about Mo Williams?! Cleveland favorite Alabama alum finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists in 36 minutes. He shot a sizzling 8-of-9 from the floor, including all four of his three-pointers. He didn’t miss on any sort of shot until a free throw rimmed out with 2:57 in the fourth quarter. He was a bit sloppy with the ball — a bad turnover led to a Rodney Hood three, cutting the Cavs’ lead to four with under two minutes to go — but there’s little to complain about on a night when he shoots like that. He might’ve gone for 52 again if he had a mind to.
17 into 29 — Here’s a bad statistic that dovetails with Mo’s sloppiness: the Cavs turned the ball over 17 times, which resulted in 29 Utah points. The Jazz entered the game averaging 22 points per game off of takeaways, fourth-best in the league, and this will only help them climb in the standings. LeBron matched Mo’s five turnovers, with Kevin Love and J.R. Smith adding two apiece.
30 of 40, 24 of 37 — There were assists aplenty Tuesday night. Utah assisted on three-quarters of their baskets, while the Cavs assisted on nearly two-thirds of theirs.Jazz came into this game as one of the league’s least assist-friendly teams. Just 47 percent of their made baskets (before Tuesday) were assisted; the Cavs were top-five with a 66 percent mark. Both teams played an attractive brand of hoops, loaded with ball movement and man movement, and both generated plenty of good looks as a result. It was a pleasure to watch.
.488/.455/.857, .500/.458/.767 — The field goal, three-point, and free throw percentages for the Jazz and Cavs, respectively. Both teams shot the hell out of the ball.
8, 7, 3 — Tristan Thompson had eight points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. I bring this up only as a means of pointing out the block total. Tristan has never averaged more than a block a season, but he’s had two three-block games this year. Something to keep an eye on, because if he can protect the rim on a consistent basis…I’ll let your imagination run wild.
0 — Meanwhile, the Jazz put up a goose egg in the block department. Rudy Gobert alone entered the game averaging four rejections per contest, but not one Cavalier shot was sent away. It’s an anomaly more than anything, but hey, we’ll take it.
Some other notes — 40 points for Alec Burks and Trey Burke off the bench for Utah…Anderson Varejao looked less than good and played just six minutes…the Cavs had too many turnovers, but many of them were well-intentioned; this team should only get better at moving the ball…J.R. Smith only scored seven points in his return from injury, but he made some nice attacking moves. Nice to have him back…Matthew Dellavedova actually looks like he knows what he’s doing out there a majority of the time now…LeBron is so freaking good…
- Honorable mention also goes to Tristan Thompson, who had three blocks in the final period. [↩]
10 Comments
Holy crap, the Cavs are every team’s target. Utah is good, with a bunch of clones who fight like demons and hit pressure shots (“Burke” and “Burks” – really? More than a little suspicious). The diff in this game came down to the Cavs having The Closer and home court advantage. And maybe also Haywood’s haircut. No one will ever be a team’s closer with that haircut.
” … hotter than a two-dollar pistol in a whore’s purse in a church in Death Valley …” I have a doctor referral for the metaphor hernia you clearly must have sustained, Will. Pace yourself, big guy, it’s a long season.
This is way too much fun for November. Even for the players, given some of the crazy passes they were throwing away.
And Shump and KI and Haywood Trade Exemption are still just spectators…
yeah, and Kyrie’s expressions on the bench make me think he’ll be back sooner than’s been implied. Sometimes it looks like it’s all he can do not to run out there in his sport coat.
Cavs dropped 118 on the stingiest D in the league without the kid known for putting up 55 in a single game at times.
Yeah… I’d say Coach Blatt’s statement about our bench being a force this year versus last years band-aid is coming together nicely.
Agree. Doesn’t look like a man with something bothering him. Looks very chipper.
Despite trying to give the game away with an ungodly amount of turnovers which led to double digit points by Utah the Cavaliers did enough to earn their toughest win of the season. I loved how when it mattered the most you could see them zone in led by of course the true MVP.
I heard KI will be back before Shumpert which surprised me because I didn’t think Shump’s injury was that bad. I also heard the Cavs could let that exemption just expire since there really isn’t much Griffin can do with 14/15 of the roster spots guaranteed.
I heard a return is possible in the next month for KI. Longer for Iman.
A couple of thoughts:
* LBJ has been every bit of the leader the Cavs have needed him to be this year. He’s playing stellar defense, picking guys up when they need it, and closing games out.
* TT is proving his worth. He has been better on both ends of the floor, and advanced stats show that he is integral part of the Cav’s best lineups. His offensive and defense ratings are phenomenal because he compliments the lineups that include LBJ, Love, and Mo perfectly. If he keeps this level of play up, he’s worth every penny of that deal.