So much for the Drummond vs. Gobert matchup I was looking forward to watching. With both Drummond and TT out the Cavs had no chance. Rudy Gobert had 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks and Utah was a +20 when he was on the floor. In addition to the five blocks he altered numerous other shots that were missed and forced the Cavs to pass up shots in the paint they usually would have put up. His presence was huge. I'm sure Sexton, Porter, and Cedi among others are glad they only have to play him twice a year.
Bogdanovic was unstoppable with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. We kept Donovan Mitchell from going crazy but he still finished with a nice line of 19/9/4 and a team high +21.
The Jazz shot 56.6% from the field and 48.8% from deep as they showed why they lead the NBA in 3-point percentage. They also dominated the boards 47-36 but part of that was because they only missed 36 shots while the Cavs missed 49. Utah had a lot more rebound opportunities.
But the Cavs competed all the way to the end. They were outscored every quarter, but not by a lot. The Jazz won the quarters by 6, 2, 4, and 1 point for a 13-point margin. Without Drummond, Thompson, and Garland the Cavs gutted it out and played a pretty good game. Unfortunately, with all the injuries they only had seven players, not counting the Canton Charge guys. The depleted Cavs bench scored 11 points, although Delly had 9 assists.
Collin Sexton stepped up and played possibly his best game of the season with a career high 32 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals while committing only one turnover. The best team stat was the 6 turnovers the Cavs committed. The Cavs are last in the NBA in turnovers per game, averaging 16.6, so only having 6 turnovers is exceptional, probably their best of the season. Part of that is the Jazz don't go for steals - they play conservatively and try to force low percentage shots knowing Rudy will gobble up the rebound. They're 29th in steals per defensive play, so maybe the low turnover number by the Cavs was mainly due to Utah's style of defense. But maybe it was also due to Garland being out.
Sexton held his own and then some in the battle of young scoring guards. Mitchell had 19 points and 9 rebounds but also 4 turnovers. I'd say it was pretty even.
Nance had another nice all-around game with a line of 16/8/8, plus two steals. One of these days he's going to get a triple-double. Kevin Love had 22 points, 9 boards and was 6-for-10 on 3's. The Cavs were +3 in his 32 minutes and -16 in the 16 minutes he sat. A really good game by Kevin and when he sat down things got a lot worse.
So, a very good effort as the Cavs competed well in a game they had no business of winning. Let's hope they get a couple of these guys back for the Celtics game Wednesday.