On top of that starting power forward John Collins is out. Collins averages 19 points and 8 rebounds per game. Collins leads the Jazz with a +11.0 when he is on the floor.
Also out with an illness is Lauri Markkanen, who is tied with Collins for the scoring lead at 19 ppg. So the Jazz, who are an awful team to begin with, are missing their two top scorers, which of course guarantees they will score 130 points and beat the Cavs.
Jordan Clarkson, one of three former Cavaliers on the team, is a game time decision. Clarkson is averaging 16.4 points per game so if he can’t go the Jazz will be missing 54 points of scoring, which is nearly half the team average. Clarkson lit up the Cavs for 27 points back in December, a game the Cavs won in Cleveland 124-113. Markkanen had 26 that night.
The Jazz are 9-27 at home and 6-32 against teams .500 and over. It’s been a very tough year for Jazz fans.
With Markkanen and Collins out the leading scorer is Collin Sexton at 18 ppg. Young Bull is having a good year offensively, hitting 48% overall and 41% on 3’s. Walker Kessler, he of two last names, starts at center. Kessler is 7’0”, 245 pounds and averages 11.4 points and 12.3 rebounds.
Kessler averages 4.6 offensive rebounds per game which leads the NBA by a wide margin. He also leads the NBA in blocked shots per game at 2.4. Allen and Mobley will have their hands full. Let’s hope they have more success against Kessler than they did against Ivica Zubac, who buried them with 28 points and 20 rebounds in LA the other night. Zubac and Kessler have similar games if I’m not mistaken.
The Jazz have two rookies in their starting lineup. PG Isaiah Collier, the 29th pick, is averaging 8 points and 6 assists. SF Cody Williams, the 10th pick, averages 4.6 points on 33.5% from the field. Williams is 6’7”, 190 pounds.
With Collins and Markkanen out, the starting power forward will be KJ Martin, who averages 6.5 ppg. Martin is listed as questionable so if he can’t go it will probably be 4th year man Micah Potter who averages 4.2 points in 17 minutes per game.
I could go over the Jazz team rankings but with both of their top scorers out and a couple of other players questionable I don’t see the use. They are 20th in scoring and 28th in scoring defense, but without Collins and Markkanen they definitely rank lower than 20th offensively.
That being said, having bench players light up the Cavs is not something we’re unfamiliar with. Teams shooting way over their heads against the Cavs is becoming the norm, but a big part of that is due to lack of “energy”, lack of “discipline”, and “mental mistakes” on the part of the Cavs, to quote the words of Kenny Atkinson.
To highlight just a couple of stats, the Jazz are 7th in 3-point frequency and 27th in rim frequency. They love the 3-pointer, but they’re only 20th in 3-point accuracy at 35.4%. The Cavs have allowed their opponents to shoot over 42% on 3’s for each of the last four games (all losses) so maybe this is a team they can finally hold under 40% from deep. Or not.
The Jazz are 5th in offensive rebound percentage (although that will be lower without their two starting forwards) and the Cavs have been getting killed on the defensive glass recently. It will be mainly up to Allen to keep Kessler from getting a ton of offensive boards.
The Jazz have the highest turnover percentage in the league so if the Cavs put pressure on the ball they should be able to get a lot of turnovers and transition buckets.
Defensively there’s nothing the Jazz do well. They’re 28th in points per game, 25th in effective field goal percentage, 26th in opponents field goal attempts per game, and last in steals and forcing turnovers. So they’re worst in the NBA both in committing turnovers and forcing them.
This game should be a blowout. Not only are the Cavs by far the better team but they are healthy while the Jazz are missing probably their two best players and possibly a couple more. They're already starting two rookies. But the way the Cavs are playing down to the competition lately anything is possible.
Is this the game where the Cavs say “enough” and come out with “energy” right from the opening tip? Or are they going to continue to screw around and play like crap in the first quarter, letting the opponent know that the W is there for the taking if they want it? At least this time they won’t be playing a team that needs every win they can get for playoff seeding. Utah is just playing out the string. But every time you give hungry young bench players significant minutes they respond, so I expect the young Jazz players to come out with their hair on fire.
I’m sure Collin Sexton will be motivated. The battle between him and Garland will be interesting since the Guardians basically traded Sexton in part to clear the way for Garland at point guard. And Donovan Mitchell is returning to his old stomping grounds against a very bad defensive team so what better opportunity for him to find his jump shot, which has almost completely disappeared in March.
Next up is Portland on Tuesday. The Blazers took the Cavs to overtime before losing in Cleveland three weeks ago and they have won their last four games, including wins over Denver and Memphis. So if the Cavs want to avoid an 0-5 road trip they better take care of business against the Jazz.
Injury Report
CLEVELAND
Jaylon Tyson - QUESTIONABLE (knee)
UTAH
Lauri Markkanen - OUT (illness)
EJ Harkless - OUT (groin)
John Collins - OUT (ankle)
Taylor Hendricks - OUT (lower leg)
Kenyon Martin Jr - QUESTIONABLE (elbow)
Jaden Springer - QUESTIONABLE (back)