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The Cavs make the turn and start heading home with a stop in Utah to take on the Western Conference leaders, the 34-11 Jazz. This is not looking very positive for the Cavs as the Jazz are 19-2 at home and have won five straight. They had Sunday off. The game starts at 9 and could be over by 10.
These teams played in Cleveland on Jan. 12 when the Cavs were 5-6. The Cavs were without Drummond, Garland, and Sexton and got hammered 117-87. Donovan Mitchell had 27 and Jordan Clarkson 21. Yogi Ferrell played 24 minutes for the Cavs. Osman, Dotson and McGee started.
Obviously a lot has changed since then. Drummond is gone, replaced by Jarrett Allen who CBS Sports says will be out at least until April 1 with a concussion. With Allen out and McGee gone I have no idea how the Cavs are going to deal with 7’1” Rudy Gobert. Isaiah Hartenstein will be available, I assume, but he just joined the team and has yet to play.
In the Jan. 12 game the Jazz buried the Cavs under a blizzard of 3-point shots. They were 24-for-45 on 3’s for over 50%. This is not surprising since the Jazz jack up a three on 48.4% of their shot attempts - highest in the NBA. They are third in percentage of 3‘s made at 39.7%. The Cavs know exactly what is coming - the question is whether there’s anything they can do to prevent the Jazz from scoring 72 points from deep like last time.
Donovan Mitchell leads the Jazz with 25.9 ppg, but there are a total of six Jazz players averaging in double figures. Joe Ingles is hitting an incredible 48.9% on 3’s. PG Mike Conley, who has a hamstring issue and is listed as day-to-day, is hitting 41.7%. Mitchell is at 39.6%. They have a whole team of guys who can hit 3’s at a healthy rate (or better).
I can already hear Austin Carr saying, "Man!" and "Wow"! the entire game.
On top of that the Jazz rank 3rd in offensive rebound percentage so even if you force them to miss one they will get the rebound 25% of the time. They don’t score in the paint much (25th) or get fouled much (22nd), but they can knock down 3’s all night. I’m sure it will be painful for the Cavs if they watch the film of the first game where the Jazz dropped 24 three-pointers on them and they were helpless to stop it.
If they try to pressure the perimeter it leaves them vulnerable to blow-bys and there is no Jarrett Allen to defend the rim tonight.
Defensively the Jazz are very good, ranking 4th in defensive efficiency. There’s a reason they have the best record in the NBA's stronger conference. Their only weaknesses are points in the paint where they rank 25th despite the formidable presence of Gobert, and steal percentage where they rank 27th. The Cavs could have success attacking the rim but if they end up exchanging two points for three they won’t win.
This looks like another no-hoper, especially with Allen out. I imagine we’ll see the same Cavs rotation that almost knocked off the Kings on Saturday, except Hartenstein should be available if JBB wants to have him bang on Rudy for a while. I'm expecting a healthy dose of Stevens, Thomas, and Okoro switching continuously on defense to keep a body in front of the Jazz 3-point shooters with the goal being to either make them put the ball on the floor and take a two-point shot or shoot a contested three.
With McGee traded and both Love and Delly still out the Cavs' oldest players are Nance and Cook, both 28. After that the oldest players are Dotson and Cedi at 26 and 25. Everybody else is 20-24.
The Jazz have a big edge in experience with Ingles and Conley being 33 and Bogdanovic 31. Gobert and Clarkson are 28. Mitchell is the baby at 24 but he's in his fourth season.
These teams played in Cleveland on Jan. 12 when the Cavs were 5-6. The Cavs were without Drummond, Garland, and Sexton and got hammered 117-87. Donovan Mitchell had 27 and Jordan Clarkson 21. Yogi Ferrell played 24 minutes for the Cavs. Osman, Dotson and McGee started.
Obviously a lot has changed since then. Drummond is gone, replaced by Jarrett Allen who CBS Sports says will be out at least until April 1 with a concussion. With Allen out and McGee gone I have no idea how the Cavs are going to deal with 7’1” Rudy Gobert. Isaiah Hartenstein will be available, I assume, but he just joined the team and has yet to play.
In the Jan. 12 game the Jazz buried the Cavs under a blizzard of 3-point shots. They were 24-for-45 on 3’s for over 50%. This is not surprising since the Jazz jack up a three on 48.4% of their shot attempts - highest in the NBA. They are third in percentage of 3‘s made at 39.7%. The Cavs know exactly what is coming - the question is whether there’s anything they can do to prevent the Jazz from scoring 72 points from deep like last time.
Donovan Mitchell leads the Jazz with 25.9 ppg, but there are a total of six Jazz players averaging in double figures. Joe Ingles is hitting an incredible 48.9% on 3’s. PG Mike Conley, who has a hamstring issue and is listed as day-to-day, is hitting 41.7%. Mitchell is at 39.6%. They have a whole team of guys who can hit 3’s at a healthy rate (or better).
I can already hear Austin Carr saying, "Man!" and "Wow"! the entire game.
On top of that the Jazz rank 3rd in offensive rebound percentage so even if you force them to miss one they will get the rebound 25% of the time. They don’t score in the paint much (25th) or get fouled much (22nd), but they can knock down 3’s all night. I’m sure it will be painful for the Cavs if they watch the film of the first game where the Jazz dropped 24 three-pointers on them and they were helpless to stop it.
If they try to pressure the perimeter it leaves them vulnerable to blow-bys and there is no Jarrett Allen to defend the rim tonight.
Defensively the Jazz are very good, ranking 4th in defensive efficiency. There’s a reason they have the best record in the NBA's stronger conference. Their only weaknesses are points in the paint where they rank 25th despite the formidable presence of Gobert, and steal percentage where they rank 27th. The Cavs could have success attacking the rim but if they end up exchanging two points for three they won’t win.
This looks like another no-hoper, especially with Allen out. I imagine we’ll see the same Cavs rotation that almost knocked off the Kings on Saturday, except Hartenstein should be available if JBB wants to have him bang on Rudy for a while. I'm expecting a healthy dose of Stevens, Thomas, and Okoro switching continuously on defense to keep a body in front of the Jazz 3-point shooters with the goal being to either make them put the ball on the floor and take a two-point shot or shoot a contested three.
With McGee traded and both Love and Delly still out the Cavs' oldest players are Nance and Cook, both 28. After that the oldest players are Dotson and Cedi at 26 and 25. Everybody else is 20-24.
The Jazz have a big edge in experience with Ingles and Conley being 33 and Bogdanovic 31. Gobert and Clarkson are 28. Mitchell is the baby at 24 but he's in his fourth season.
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