The Utah Jazz were on the brink of pulling off and early-season upset on the road against the Cavaliers before four-time MVP LeBron James took over, scoring 17 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter as Cleveland escaped with a 118-114 win on Tuesday night.
Alec Burks scored a team-high 24 points off the bench for the Jazz (4-3), while Gordon Hayward (17), Derrick Favors (17), Rodney Hood (16), Trey Burke (16) and Rudy Gobert (15) all scored in double figures.
James added seven rebounds, eight assists and two steals, while former Jazz guard Mo Williams scored 29 points and missed only two shots all night–the 12-year veteran went 8-for-9 from the field (including 4-for-4 from 3-point range) and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Kevin Love scored 22 points and hit four 3-pointers for the Cavaliers (7-1) in the win.
Tuesday’s Best
Burks kept Utah in the game late, scoring 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter–including a coast-to-coast two-handed slam to pull the Jazz within two with 19 seconds left, and then a pull-up 3-pointer to make the score 116-114 with 2.8 seconds left. Overall, Burks went 7-for-13 from the field (including 4-for-5 from 3-point range) and added three rebounds, three assists and a steal in 30 minutes.
Key Stretch
The game swung back and forth throughout the entire fourth quarter, right up until Williams sealed the win for Cleveland with two free throws with 1.2 seconds left. The Jazz trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half but went on a 27-10 second-half run to take a 91-83 lead with 9:26 left in the game. And that’s when James went to work, scoring eight of Cleveland’s next 11 points (and assisting on the other bucket–a 3-pointer by Love) to start a 21-7 Cavs run over the next seven minutes. The Jazz kept it close down the stretch, but Cleveland made just enough free throws to get the win.
Significant Stat
Cleveland’s hot shooting was too much for the NBA’s top defense to handle (Utah entered the night allowing a league-best 85.0 points per game). The Cavs shot 50 percent from the field en route to 118 points–the most the Jazz have given up since December 16, 2014 vs. New Orleans (a game the Jazz lost 119-111). Cleveland also went 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) from 3-point range.
Coach’s Quote of the Night
“You can see why they’re as good as they are. I was happy with the way we hung in there at the end of the game when they were making shots. You tend to get rattled, but we kept playing and it was good. It was a good effort from our group.”
–Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Notable
The Jazz had a season-high 30 assists (on the team’s 40 made baskets). … Gobert failed to record a block for the first time in 18 games (since March 25 vs. Portland). … The Jazz entered the night ranked No. 2 in the NBA in blocked shots at 7.0 per game but did not block a single shot vs. Cleveland. … As a team, Utah went 24-for-28 (85.7 percent) from the free-throw line, though two straight misses by Favors with 33 seconds left proved to be costly.
Up Next
The Jazz will head to Miami to take on the Heat on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. MT.
