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Cavs playing the second night of a back-to-back at home against the 6-4 Jazz, who were off yesterday but are on the sixth game of an east coast road trip. The Athletic's power rankings out today have the Jazz at #10 and the Cavs #23. A few days ago the Jazz beat Milwaukee 131-118 with Giannas playing. The Jazz knocked down 25 3-pointers in that win.
Backup center Derrick Favors is day-to-day while Joe Ingles, backup small forward, is questionable.
The Jazz are a very experienced bunch. Starting point guard Mike Conley is 33, Ingles is 33, and starting SG Bogdanovic is 31. Favors is 29, Clarkson and Gobert are 28. Donovan Mitchell is only 24 but is in his fourth season.
The Jazz are not a great offensive force, ranking 20th in points per game, 17th in points in the paint, and 20th in fastbreak points. They like to shoot 3's, ranking 6th in 3-point rate. They make them better than almost everyone, ranking 3rd in 3-point percentage. Their ability to generate good 3-point shots and make them will be a big challenge for the Cavs.
The Jazz apparently don't attack the rim much, ranking 27th in free throws per offensive play. But they grab a ton of offensive boards, ranking 3rd. Their approach is lots of 3-point attempts, make a high percentage, and rebound many of the ones they miss. This will be a huge problem for the Cavs who, despite the presence of Drummond and McGee, rank 29th in defensive rebound percentage. This is a bad matchup. The Cavs are bad at defending 3-pointers and defensive rebounding while the Jazz are great at hitting 3's and offensive rebounding.
This could be a frustrating evening of watching the Jazz hit lots of 3's or get the rebound when the Cavs manage to force a miss.
One matchup in the Cavs' favor is the Jazz rank 23rd in opponent steals per possession while the Cavs rank 1st in steals per possession. The Jazz are vulnerable to steals and the Cavs excel at stealing the ball. The plan should be to steal the ball before they can jack up a 3. But if they do get the shot off everybody needs to hit the glass; don't stand around watching Andre.
Defensively the Jazz rank 9th in points allowed per game. They're 21st in points in the paint which surprised me since they have Gobert, who is an elite defender and shot blocker. Gobert is second in blocked shots. They're average in defending 3-pointers.
The Jazz don't take risks on defense, ranking last in opponent turnovers per game by a significant margin. Maybe it's because they're so old that trying for steals takes too much energy just like fouling people and fastbreaking, neither of which they do much. They're 4th lowest in fouls per defensive play. It looks like they just try to stay in front of the ball and challenge shots without fouling and then grab the rebound. They rank 3rd in defensive rebound percentage so forcing a missed shot usually works out for them.
On defense the Cavs need to aggressively challenge 3-point shots and crash the defensive glass hard. The wings and guards need to help on the glass rather than leak out. They also need to get a lot of steals that lead to baskets in transition before Gobert can get down the floor. In the half-court offense they need to hit some 3's and mid-range jumpers. I don't think Dre is going to have a lot of success going one-on-one against Gobert. Dre needs to restrain himself from taking too many shots tonight IMO, although it would be nice if he got Rudy in foul trouble, especially if Favors is out.
Donovan Mitchell is their star, averaging 23 points and 5 assists, but he's only shooting 40.4% and 35.2% on 3's. Conley is averaging 17.8 ppg at age 33 and Clarkson is getting 16.8 ppg off the bench. He's having a great year hitting 49.2% and 41.9% on 3's. They should put Okoro on him if they can.
Gobert is averaging 12.4 points and 13.7 rebounds with 2.8 blocks.
If Sexton is back it will help the Cavs. He was a last minute scratch last night. I'm looking forward to seeing him match up against the 6'1" Conley, who is a somewhat similar player, only 11 years older and not as big a scorer but more of a passer.
If Favors is out their 3rd center is a rookie, Udoka Azubuike, 7'0", 270 pounds, who was the 27th pick. He's only averaging 4.5 minutes per game. I don't know anything about him except that he's a big boy. Maybe Drum or JaVale can exploit him when Rudy is down.
Backup center Derrick Favors is day-to-day while Joe Ingles, backup small forward, is questionable.
The Jazz are a very experienced bunch. Starting point guard Mike Conley is 33, Ingles is 33, and starting SG Bogdanovic is 31. Favors is 29, Clarkson and Gobert are 28. Donovan Mitchell is only 24 but is in his fourth season.
The Jazz are not a great offensive force, ranking 20th in points per game, 17th in points in the paint, and 20th in fastbreak points. They like to shoot 3's, ranking 6th in 3-point rate. They make them better than almost everyone, ranking 3rd in 3-point percentage. Their ability to generate good 3-point shots and make them will be a big challenge for the Cavs.
The Jazz apparently don't attack the rim much, ranking 27th in free throws per offensive play. But they grab a ton of offensive boards, ranking 3rd. Their approach is lots of 3-point attempts, make a high percentage, and rebound many of the ones they miss. This will be a huge problem for the Cavs who, despite the presence of Drummond and McGee, rank 29th in defensive rebound percentage. This is a bad matchup. The Cavs are bad at defending 3-pointers and defensive rebounding while the Jazz are great at hitting 3's and offensive rebounding.
This could be a frustrating evening of watching the Jazz hit lots of 3's or get the rebound when the Cavs manage to force a miss.
One matchup in the Cavs' favor is the Jazz rank 23rd in opponent steals per possession while the Cavs rank 1st in steals per possession. The Jazz are vulnerable to steals and the Cavs excel at stealing the ball. The plan should be to steal the ball before they can jack up a 3. But if they do get the shot off everybody needs to hit the glass; don't stand around watching Andre.
Defensively the Jazz rank 9th in points allowed per game. They're 21st in points in the paint which surprised me since they have Gobert, who is an elite defender and shot blocker. Gobert is second in blocked shots. They're average in defending 3-pointers.
The Jazz don't take risks on defense, ranking last in opponent turnovers per game by a significant margin. Maybe it's because they're so old that trying for steals takes too much energy just like fouling people and fastbreaking, neither of which they do much. They're 4th lowest in fouls per defensive play. It looks like they just try to stay in front of the ball and challenge shots without fouling and then grab the rebound. They rank 3rd in defensive rebound percentage so forcing a missed shot usually works out for them.
On defense the Cavs need to aggressively challenge 3-point shots and crash the defensive glass hard. The wings and guards need to help on the glass rather than leak out. They also need to get a lot of steals that lead to baskets in transition before Gobert can get down the floor. In the half-court offense they need to hit some 3's and mid-range jumpers. I don't think Dre is going to have a lot of success going one-on-one against Gobert. Dre needs to restrain himself from taking too many shots tonight IMO, although it would be nice if he got Rudy in foul trouble, especially if Favors is out.
Donovan Mitchell is their star, averaging 23 points and 5 assists, but he's only shooting 40.4% and 35.2% on 3's. Conley is averaging 17.8 ppg at age 33 and Clarkson is getting 16.8 ppg off the bench. He's having a great year hitting 49.2% and 41.9% on 3's. They should put Okoro on him if they can.
Gobert is averaging 12.4 points and 13.7 rebounds with 2.8 blocks.
If Sexton is back it will help the Cavs. He was a last minute scratch last night. I'm looking forward to seeing him match up against the 6'1" Conley, who is a somewhat similar player, only 11 years older and not as big a scorer but more of a passer.
If Favors is out their 3rd center is a rookie, Udoka Azubuike, 7'0", 270 pounds, who was the 27th pick. He's only averaging 4.5 minutes per game. I don't know anything about him except that he's a big boy. Maybe Drum or JaVale can exploit him when Rudy is down.
