Recap: Cavs 118, Jazz 114 (Or, The Time They Won on One Foot)
2015-11-11
If you just heard the stat lines, without turnovers specifically pointed out, that Mo Williams, Kevin Love, and LeBron James had last night, you would have thought the Cavs won by forty. Mo had 29 points on 8-9 shooting, and was 4-4 from deep. He handed out six assists and had two steals. Love was 4-10 from 3-point land, and had eight boards on his way to 22 points. The King scored 17 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, had seven rebounds, and handed out eight dimes. The team, as a whole, shot 50% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc.
Unfortunately for the Cavs, turnovers are important in basketball. Mo, James, and Love tossed the rock away 12 times, and the rest of the team lost the ball an additional five times. The Jazz used this to their advantage to score 29 points and stay in the game until the very end. If each turnover were a shot to the offender’s foot, the King and Mo would have been bleeding all over the court.
The Jazz turned the ball over 16 times, but each time they took aim at their feet, the gun was empty. The Cavs scored just 16 points from Utah’s mistakes. It wasn’t a pretty occasion, but the Cavs still managed to win their seventh game in a row and put up crazy points against a top-three defense.
First Quarter
The Cavs scored on the opening possession, as J.R. Smith split a pick and roll with a behind the back dribble to find Mo in the corner for three. The Jazz pushed the ball and Gordon Hayward nailed a three of his own. Both teams tried to speed up the tempo, and the Cavs were clearly trying to get the ball up court with long passes. Love and Mo were both doing their best Joey Flacco impressions.
LeBron had a vicious dunk over Rudy Gobert midway through the quarter, after Love found him rolling to the rim.
https://vine.co/v/elpe2JeDIOi
The Cavalier bigs played defense the best they could, but the Jazz guards just kept getting down low and demanding attention. Raul Neto dished to both Derrick Favors and Gobert for four easy points after getting deep into enemy territory. Mo countered Neto’s play by going 4-4 from the floor for nine points. The Cavs shot 61% from the field, and held the Jazz to 40%, but they turned the ball over six times. If they could have actually attempted more shots, they might have led by more. Cavs up, 22-25.
Second Quarter
Delly started the quarter out right, grabbing a defensive board and pushing the rock up the floor quickly. He found Richard Jefferson running to the hoop, and got him two free throws. Delly then glued himself to Trey Burke, and drew a moving screen on Trevor Booker. J.R. followed up that bit of magic by splitting another pick and roll. This time he got fouled, but that didn’t stop him from throwing a lob to TT later in the possession. J.R. also got an easy slam when Delly decided it wasn’t time for Trey Lyles to drive and dished the stolen rock to him.
https://vine.co/v/eljZTEBFhqK
The Cavs went on an 11-2 run the first five minutes of the quarter to go up 26-38. Then, they caught the turnover bug, tossing the ball away four times including a palming violation by Mo, and a travel call on LeBron for a hop-step pass. The Cavs also caught a case of poor-shooting-itis. No matter how hard they tried to push the ball up the floor for good looks, they just weren’t getting results.
Mo nailed two threes late in the quarter, and the King drove inside drawing free throws. Love also grabbed four late free throws to keep the Cavs ahead. Alec Burks scored eight for the Jazz and was 2-2 from deep. The Cavs assisted on 15 of their 19 baskets in the half, and shot 52% from the field. However, after giving up 15 points off of turnovers, they went into the locker room only up 52-48.
Third Quarter
The third quarter was a comedy of errors for the Cavaliers. Six of Utah’s first ten points were off Cavalier miscues. J.R. lobbed a pass at the back of Moz’s head, and it was tossed to Rodney Hood who earned two freebies. Williams passed to an again unaware Mozgov on a pick and roll, and it bounced off his gut, which led to another Jazz score. And, Mozzy forgot to box out Gobert, who out-talled him for a board and bucket. The Cavs didn’t lose their lead at any point though.
Mozgov would also fumble another pass during a clueless moment later in the quarter, although he managed to gain control of the ball again just enough to get fouled. I forgive him for these miscues though, because he had the play of the quarter. Derrick Favors attempted to drive on him, but the Mozerati stood up straight and sent Derrick and the ball to the ground. Favors slid roughly six feet after taking three steps, and realized you don’t test Russia because Russia sends you to Siberia for basketball crimes like being blocked more than once in a game.
Trey Burke led the Jazz with nine points in the quarter, while Gordon Hayward failed to score. Mo continued his perfect evening hitting a three and nailing four free throws. He also had two steals in a row that led to four points. The Cavs finished the quarter tied up with the Jazz at 80-80.
Fourth Quarter
The Cavs started the quarter trying to trap Utah’s ball handlers while LeBron rested. It sort of worked, but J.R. got called for a foul away from the action when Trey Burke was about to turn it over. Then J.R. got sandwiched in a screen on the inbounds play. He pushed through it, since he was being held, and got called for a foul. The refs reviewed it and determined the foul happened before the ball was in play. That gave the Jazz two freebies, and fueled an 8-3 to put the Jazz up five.
LeBron checked in with ten minutes left and began establishing the James-ian Empire built on 17 points. He blew by Favors for a two, and built some temples. Then TT blocked Burke two times in the same possession as a tribute to Bron’s Blaze Pizza shops. He blocked Gobert two possessions later as a sacrifice to the altar of efficiency. The Jazz kept trying to pull the King’s fortress down, but it just didn’t work. With 6:05 left, the King stole a pass and shot towards the rim. Hood hung on him like a coat on a hook, and James still tossed the ball in for an And-1. He sank the free throw.
https://vine.co/v/elDKFxHXQH3
This pumped up the whole team, and the defense tightened up. LeBron even took a charge to show his fellow Cavs he is an emperor of the people.
From 9:08 until the 2:00 minute mark, the Cavs went on a 23-9 run to put them up, 107-100. The King was involved in all but three of the points. He either scored, assisted on the shot, had the offensive board that led to the score, or had the pass that led to the free throws. He was fearless, despite the Cavs being down by as many as nine points in the quarter.
The final two minutes of the game took forever. The Jazz got within two with 1:07 left and Blatt called a timeout. He had LeBron dribble the shot clock down to 12 before TT set a high screen for  him to drive inside for a beautiful hook shot.
https://vine.co/v/elDeMLEZeqL
Down four, the Jazz had to foul. LeBron was sent to the line twice and made 2-4. An undefended Alec Burks got a dunk with 19 seconds left to pull the Jazz back within two, 109-111. Then the King received the ball running up the floor and sent Tristan a pass right at the rim. TT drained the shot and nailed the free throw. Down five, the Jazz continued fouling, but Williams hit all four of his freebies, and the Cavs won, 118-114.
Gripes
–The Cavalier defense was not effective tonight. The Jazz shot 48.8% from the field and 45% from deep. A lot of this was the result of the Jazz guards being able to penetrate and dish the ball. Early in the game, the Cavs were trying to show and recover on pick and rolls for some reason. This allowed Neto and Burke to get into the paint with two guys on them just long enough to thread a pass to an open Favors or Gobert at the rim, or back out to an open man behind the arc. If the Cavs are going to play pick and rolls this way, they’d better perfect their timing because the results weren’t pretty.
-17 turnovers leading to 29 points is absolutely ridiculous. The Cavs are lucky they won tonight.
-The Cavs had just eight free throws in the first half. They finished the game with 43, but much of that was because they were in the bonus early in the third, and Utah was trying to save time in the fourth. The Cavs acted as if Gobert was swatting shots left and right, when he had zero blocks.
-Kevin Love completely dismissed working on the block or getting early post position. He took ten 3-pointers, making four, and missed all three of his attempts at the rim.
-Alec Burks and Trey Burke scored 40 off the Jazz bench, sinking 13-24 from the floor, and they were 6-8 from deep. The whole Cavs’ bench scored just 26 points.
-Mozgov had just three points, and seemed pretty unaware of what was going on in the third quarter.
Hypes
-Even though the Cavs turned the ball over a ton, a lot of the turnovers came from trying to push the ball aggressively up the floor. I can live with that. When their offense sputtered in the third, they didn’t just settle for long twos, they tried to run and get decent looks at the basket and from deep.
Third quarter shot chart for Cavs
-The King was super efficient tonight. He shot 11-19 for his 31 points. He played 38 minutes, but obviously saved himself for his big fourth quarter. He made ten of his eleven shots at the rim.
-J.R. Smith didn’t explode this game, but he had three assists. He’s trying to facilitate more. Defenses expect him to shoot so they are fighting over picks, and he’s just splitting them to survey an open floor.
-The Cavs forgot to box out consistently and gave up 13 offensive rebounds. Yet, they still had 35 boards for the night, just two less than the Jazz.
-24 of the Cavs’ 37 shots were assisted on. That’s still high considering LeBron went LeOffense in the fourth to win the game for the Cavs.
It sure doesn’t feel like we have 5 players shooting 40% or better from 3. Love and JR need to get on track, just tomake it more enjoyable. Not any kind of panic
THANK YOU EVIL AND ALSO ALL YOU VETERANS !!
Happy Veterans Day, everyone! Thank a Vet today for their service!
What Lebron did in the 4th was exceptional…just willed us to win.. though we tend to expect those performances from him. Given the subpar performance of the Cavs and the solid play of Jazz for three quarters, it would have easy to chalk up that game as a not very important/significant loss and move on….but Lebron didn’t see it that way. Great Lefourth!
THANK GOD FOR DAVE McMENAMIN ( CLEVELAND ESPN ) FOR PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM —-COVERING THE LEBRON PURCHASE OF A MANSION IN LA —-” CAVS FANS DON’T WORRY —LEBRON IS NOT LEAVING —JUST NEEDS A PLACE TO KICK BACK AND RELAX ” ( AND PARTY WITH OUR OWN EVIL GENIOUS JUST THOUGHT I WOULD THROW THAT IN ) —IF WIND(BAG ) HORST WAS REPORTING / COVERING THE STORY WE KNOW WHAT KIND OF RUMORS HE WOULD HAVE GENERATED —THANK YOU DAVE FOR BEING A PROFESSIONAL
Did he say whether it had a poolside cabana?
And it does have a built in Blaze pizza oven…
Hey EG!
We need a Blaze in Athens!
You’re talking Athens, Ohio – right?
Right. They could probably use one in Greece too.
I AGREE WITH ARCH—IT IS VERY EASY TO GET ” CAUGHT UP / CONSUMED ” WITH THE WIN STREAK / WINNING —–STILL NEED TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE / NBA PLAYOFFS / FINALS —BE HEALTHY AND RESTED AND IMPROVE THE BENCH / I BLOGGED EARLY IN LAST NIGHTS GAME THAT WE PROBABLY WOULD NOT SEE MDN / BLATT THINKING IT MIGHT BE ” TOO BIG OF STAGE ” BUT A FEW MINUTES WOULD NOT HURT—ALSO POOR SASHA –LET HIM GET SOME MINUTES / DON’T THINK HE TOOK A PAY CUT TO SIT THE ENTIRE SEASON
Yes. I agree. But LeBron knows this better than anyone. He will take time when he needs to and he will chill during games when he needs to. His minutes are already down from last year. What they are doing right now is perfect.
Wow the minutes police are taking over the place. Lebron is a big boy, I assure you he can handle 35 minutes a night. Now if you want to cut him to 30 on back to back or sit him a game on 4 in 5 nights (if we even have any), I could see. But c’mon man, even Timmy played 77 games last year 29 minutes per game at 39 years old. Lebron will get his game or two off the last week of regular season and be good to go. Now when KI come back, he should be… Read more »
I think you’re either overstating or misinterpreting what people are saying. Most of us are saying the same thing as you, which is that LeBron shouldn’t be playing 40 minutes a night, but it’s good to know he can when he needs to.
He’s not playing 40 minutes a night he is plyin 35
Sounds like we need a…
The Cavs play the Sixers on Jan. 10th. Another PTO for LeBron.
Jan. 20 – Cavs play the Nets… I don’t need to tell you what Leb should do, right?
Play 34 minutes??
Punch people in the face who refer to him as “Leb”? ;)
That was a shout out for Cols!
I know… that’s why I included the knowing wink…
Not to be too nitpicky, but I’d like to see Blatt continue to expand his bench and continue to reduce LeBron’s minutes. He’s down to 34.8 from 36.1 (last year). But I’d like to see him get closer to 30 mpg. The Cavs will probably need to concede a few games here or there but it doesn’t matter. This is the regular season, not the post season. I think whenever the Cavs play the Nets or Sixers they should rest LeBron.
The Nets play the Cavs in Cleveland on Novemebrr 28th, LeBron should circle that date as PTO.
I disagree. LeBron knows how to rest himself during games and if he’s injured he doesn’t play. But if he’s healthy he should play. He chills a a bit to conserve energy these days. He doesn’t need a coach to sit him down, he know what do to to get himself fresh for the playoffs.
I like this LeBron. He’s not some rookie who doesn’t know how his body responds to the number of games he has to oplay. Plus I want to see him win the MVP again.
LeBron admits he’s bullheaded and should probably rest more often. He took two weeks last year, there’s nothing wrong with sitting a game here and there. W/R to record, the regular season is pretty meaningless for this team.
Agree with Cols here. LeBron really picked his spots in this game. He guarded the two almost the whole night, so he wasn’t banging much down low. He didn’t post up himself much either. He played the smartest version of “Perimeter LeBron” that he knows how. He was basically a guard all night, but he didn’t settle for jumpers. Ultimately, he is more destructive when he plays lower on the floor, but this game was a great example of how he can pace himself and still play high minutes. Obviously, we don’t want to see this SO often, but he… Read more »
The Cavs play the Sixers on Dec. 20th. LeBron should circle that date as another PTO.
This was also a potential message game… with a young upstart team from Utah coming into the Q… The Jazz (prior to this game) were only allowing like 85ppg and their stingy defense was being highly touted… I don’t have any problem with Blatt’s decisions to go hard in this one, or with the minutes count…
It’s time for people to admit that Mo is probably the best backup PG in the NBA. And that Thompson deserved every cent of his contract. Dude is just killing it on defense.
And rushing to put up bunnies at the hoop with comical results.
Thompson didn’t deserve the contract when he signed it, but he’s certainly earning it now. There is a difference, but I would much rather he earn the money while making it thamore rest on a pile of cash.
I’m having trouble refuting Mo as the best backup PG. He’s still too inconsistent for my tastes to be the best, rather than very good, especially since his game is so heavily oriented toward one side of the court. However, I will put up Vasquez, Mills, and Schröder as other candidates.
He doesn’t deserve it, but it is what it is. I think Schroeder might be the best back up, but Mo works well for this team. Of course on his best shooting night, he had his worst game handling the ball and getting torched on D……
At the moment, that’s not technically true, since Mo is effectively the starter… But I agree he’s been terrific offensively, which is all he’ll need to be when he’s coming off the bench to spell Kyrie…
Tristan has looked more fluid on both ends to me. His tweener shot in the P&R is improved, and he had a turnaround shot the other nighy that was pretty smooth. And he was blocking so many shots that AC couldnt even keep up I dont think its even an argument about Mo, Cols. Schroeder is the only other, but he’s only okay and can’t shoot. I cant think of a single backup PG that can step in and score 30 on 9 shots. He’s gonna continue torching people with Love and Bron and Kyrie taking the attention. He deserves… Read more »
The defense had me puzzled. It almost seem like the Cavs were trying to readjust to JR’s insertion in the game. The bench was not clicking w/o RJ. Delly/TT lob show was cancelled in this game. James Jones did not help. It did seem to flow better briefly(2 mins) with Andy in the game. Hopefully, Blatt finds the most effective bench rotation and stays with it. You’re right, it is amazing they won the game with this many turn overs. Mo has been fantastic! Lebron did play like a King!
I said this in the Live, and I’m sure it was more on Lebron then Blatt, but he doesn’t need to play 39 minutes at this point in the season. I can see that he was getting sucked into the competition as the Jazz would not go away. I get that they had the days off in the front and back of the game but I hope not to see this become a frequent thing. Mo is solidifying the genius of picking him up. Delly and Mo are actually perfect as a backup combo. A hustle/D guy and a pure… Read more »
My takeaway on LeFourth last night is that he and Blatt understand that the reason he usually plays 30 minutes a game when they’re winning easier is so he can play 40 and do what needs to be done in the hard ones.
I know I’m gonna differ from the public opinion here, but if it was LeBron’s decision, I love it. I love the message it sends to the team, the fans, the league: LeBron is not letting this team lose. If the team earns a large enough lead in the 4th where he can rest, awesome; if he gets adequate rest in the first 3 quarters, awesome still. But I’d love LeBron striving for the W because it’s showing fools who these Cavs are: an angry team that ain’t messin around.
Way off base on LBJ’s minutes. It would have been far worse to sit him because of some arbitrary ‘pitch count’. He’s not coming back from knee surgery, and it wasn’t a back to back, so if you need him (and others) for 40 minutes so be it. There are players that average 39 minutes a game. Now if his play drastically drops the more minutes he plays and he’s tired in 4th quarters, that’s a problem, but he didn’t look to tired against Utah.
Yeah, LBJ knows how to pace himself… Other than the posterization of the Stifle Tower (I loved seeing the big Frenchman cringe out of the way), Bron really seemed to conserve energy for the big push at the end…
Great recap, David I’m loving JR’s unselfish approach this year, but we are all begging him to shoot more. Hopefully we can get some pipe soon With you on the Love take. When we were running plays to get him post position, he was bullying people and becoming a great facilitator from the post. We need that aspect to our offense and not him on the perimeter all the time. RJ gave us some clutch minutes at the end, too. His game is still very solid at this age. Even the threes he missed are usually halfway down and don’t… Read more »
Second Cavsgoodkarma, good recap and love the Vines thrown in for highlights.
Glad to see some love for RJ. Dude looked positively spry this game. It seemed to be an “old man feels young” game for him. Anyone over thirty understands what I’m talking about.
Agree, enjoyed the recap DW! Vines also last so much longer than video clips!
On a separate topic, I’m going to be interested to see how the LaMarcus Aldridge story develops in San Antonio, and if it reaches the pandemonium it did with Love last season, because they’re starting out in a very similar fashion. Love went from 26 and 12 his last year in Minnesota to 16 and 9.7 in CLE. Last year Aldridge averaged 23 and 10, and right now, though early, he is averaging 15 and 9. it will be interesting to see if the same narrative starts to float around SA as it did for us last year.
He just needs to FIT OUT. He’ll be fine for the playoffs.
LA better hope the Celts don’t trade Kelly Olynyk to another western conference contender…
Oh of course, never with the SPURS. “They rest their players so smartly!” “Players sacrifice individual stats for championships in San Antonio!” “They have such a humble and strong locker room no one would ever be disgruntled!”
Conversely, people will always find ways to poke holes in LeBron James-led teams.
The media narratives are different. Last year the Cavs were UNPROVEN AND UNCERTAIN, while this year the Spurs are THE TEAM THAT DOES THINGS THE RIGHT WAY. Plenty of guys are lazy journalists or have editorial mandates that make them push the conventional wisdom. It’s best not to let it bother you and find the real stories lurking underneath the surface.
Yes, this point exactly… The narrative suits the trends…
I noticed that Duncan posted a pic with his teammates, with LA photoshopped OUT….hmmmm….better get the media in to investigate.
UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN KEVIN / BUT IT IS A LONG SEASON ” PACE ” IS THE KEY ——CONCERNED WITH MOZ’S PLAY AT PRESENT ( HOPING IT IS INJURY RELATED ) NOT GOOD IF HE IS SEEKING A HUGE CONTRACT—–“VALUE THE POSSESSION” NOT ONLY T.O’S BUT SOME RIDICULOUS OFFENSE / SHOT SELECTIONS HELP TO LEAVE THE OPPONET HANG AROUND –PUT THEM AWAY EARLY / TAKE ALL LIFE OUT OF THEM !!!—SOMETIMES JR JUST NEEDS TO BE J.R –WAITING FOR HIM TO “HANG 6–7 ” THREES ON SOME TEAM —ENJOYING THE WIN STREAK SO FAR / REAL TEST IS WHEN WE HAVE… Read more »
Pure Salary dump I think. I hear they are looking to deal the guys they got. Want to avoid repeater tax.
Good trade for Miami, even if they don’t keep Udrih. If they do he’s a significant upgrade over Chalmers. Udrih must have really wanted out of Memphis, since usually the team dumping salary has to pay for the privilege and the Grizzlies paid the Heat to take him for Chalmers’ contract.
I am not concerned about anything the Heat does… ever…
The offense is looking mighty fine in these early days, which is a far cry from how they started last year. But I’m still not seeing the intensity from the end of last year. Maybe it’s too early to play like that, but their meanstreak was my favorite aspect of last year’s team after January. Here’s hoping it makes a comeback!
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. As long as we win games, now is the time to take it easy when we can, experiment with offense and defense, and mostly just stay healthy until the spring. Part of me actually hopes that Golden State continues to go on their impressive run, because it’s going to be difficult to play at that high a level for 8 straight months.
I understand. I just hope that it becomes part of their identity before the playoffs. That physicality and toughness won games when our star players went down. Cavs just lacked the talent to win it all.
Why wouldn’t it? Of course it will. Every LeBron playoff team has this mentality.
Even if every LeBron playoff appearance hasn’t.
I’m actually loving the regular season vibe this team has. They aren’t blowing bad teams out but they are generally comfortably in control. The offense and rotations are crisp and they don’t stop sharing the rock at the first sign of trouble. Deep bench allows the starters to play relaxed and limits extended minutes/effort. Bench is also relatively entertaining to watch so it’s not all feast/famine. ISO Lebron ball is fairly contained and effective when called upon and he’s at least limited the step-back 3 somewhat. I expect we’ll get treated to some great games over the season where both… Read more »
I’m with you BigDigg… thoroughly enjoying how the season is unfolding thus far…