Live Thread: Cavs vs. Jazz (#HighNotes)

LeBron James and the Cavaliers end their four game home stand tonight against the heroic but depleted Utah Jazz. Heroic because they just marched through Boston last night to get their first win on their brutal six game road trip. Depleted because they lost Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors while doing it. So, this should be a double dose of good news for the decently rested Cavs… the Jazz knocked off the Celtics on their home floor to pull Cleveland within two games of Boston in the standings… and then had the misfortune of losing two-thirds of their front line in what looks like a schedule loss to the Cavs.

Meanwhile, the Cavs are one of the League’s hottest teams with wins in 16 of their last 17 games, including 10 straight at home. LeBron is averaging a triple-double in those games (29.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 10.2 assists), while Kevin Love has six double-doubles in his last eight games, and Jose Calderon has surprised with his solid play filling in as the starting PG. As a team, the Cavs are outscoring opponents by an average of 9.2 points per game over their hot stretch, and they’ve made at least 10 triples in a team-record 18 games in a row and scored 100 or more in 22 consecutive games.

Yet, the road ahead gets much tougher, as the Cavs play only two more home games over their next twelve, so hopefully they don’t look past this Jazz team, since rookie Donovan Mitchell, Rodney Hood and Ricky Rubio could still make things tricky for Cleveland if they aren’t paying attention.

Tristan Thompson should be available for the Cavs, though Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert and Isaiah Thomas remain sidelined.

Prediction: The Cavs continue to hit the high notes against a tired and short-handed Jazz team… 116-107.

Catch all the action on FSO starting at 7:30pm EST… and as always, chime in here…