Cavs vs Jazz: Utah Burns Cleveland 100-92
Gordon Hayward was on fire Wednesday night when he scored 28 points to lead the Utah Jazz over world champions Cleveland Cavaliers 100-92 in the Cavs vs. Jazz NBA showdown.
There wasn’t any last second jump shots or theatrics as the Jazz easily slid to victory with contributions by everyone. But all eyes were on Cavs’ Hayward as he battled it out with LeBron James play by play in front of the enthusiastic sold-out crowd.
“The Crowd could feel it,” Hayward stated, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.“It was definitely a good win. Anytime you can beat LeBron and his team here, it’s a good win.”
Just 48 hours following their defeat by the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz showed they have what it takes to bounce right back to beat the tough competition and on their home turf. This was a big win in the sense that the Jazz defeated the Cavs, a champion team just before a rather favorable two-week schedule.
“I can certainly appreciate the logic,” said Utah coach Quin Snyder. “Its Cleveland. It’s tough for anyone in the NBA to not be ready to play. They have the best player in the league (James) they won the whole thing last year. So if this isn’t a game you can get up for, you probably don’t know what’s going on.”
This victory was everybody’s win, as reported by The Desert News. Sure, picking up this win meant another All-Star performance by Hayward, but it also took one more double-double by Rodney Hood, excellent defense from Rudy Gobert and some unexpectedly exceptional guarding by Joe Ingles.
There was also a solid outing from George Hill, Derrick Favors, and Trey Lyles, some excellent team defense by the Jazz and a lot of gumption, especially following the Cavs 17-0 run early on in the second half.
That may read easy, but it was easier said than done, but just what it took Utah to turn around an average road trip and stop James from taking down the Jazz for the first time since 2010.
“Contributions up and down the board,” ESPN quoted Hayward as saying.
But Hayward was only downplaying his own contributions of the night, hammering 28 points on 10-of-12 shooting with four 3s. Hayward also pulled off grabbing nine rebounds to top off the Cavs vs. Jazz night.
All five Utah starters scored in double figures, improving the Jazz (24-16) to 3-0 and Hood was able to finally break his slump with four 3-pointers and 18 points.
Hill did his part, scoring 13 points and seven assists, there was also Favors 12 point contribution and Gobert racking up 11 points with 14 rebounds for the Jazz while keeping the Cavs on their toes for much of the second half.
Lyles had a respectable outing with 12 points and two 3s and Ingles at five points and some solid defense on James.
Taking another loss in the Beehive State, James scored a game-high 28 points, pulling off five assists and six rebounds. But James seemed to take this all in stride, viewing this as just another unfortunate loss for the MVP.
“I feel great in this arena all the time. You know, they talk about the altitude, I don’t really get that tired for some odd reason and I have had some pretty good quarters,” James said, about sparking up the Cavs in the second half and a big third quarter.
“But, (I’m) never on the winning side,” he added. “But I’m glad the fans got an opportunity to see their team win and me make a couple plays.”
This added up to Utah’s third home win in a row in a Cavs vs. Jazz encounter, and James hasn’t seen a victory here since his Miami Heat team took them down there on Dec. 8, 2010.
[Featured Image by AP Images]
