by This recap is brought to you by Hinckley Roofing: https://hinckleyroofing.com/
Tonight’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz has been one that most NBA fans have been looking forward to, with Donovan Mitchell making a return to Utah for the first time since being traded to Cleveland.
Mitchell shined in this game scoring 46 points on his return to Utah against his former team. Darius Garland also performed well alongside his backcourt partner putting up 21 points.
The game was a back-and-forth affair late into the fourth quarter when things shifted in the game when the Jazz had a seven-point possession, Jordan Clarkson former Cavalier was fouled on a four-point play, which was then upgraded to a flagrant foul with Caris Levert the one committing the foul. Then on the next shot, Levert fouled Clarkson again for three free throws. Clarkson struggled in the first half of the game, but with a strong second half finished with 32 points.
Fellow former Cleveland Cavalier and involved in the Mitchell trade, Lauri Markkanen who has had a great start to this season continued his impressive play, tonight finishing with 25 points in a 116-114 win for the Jazz over the Cavaliers.
Cavs center Jarrett Allen started tonight’s game but did not finish the game, having left in the second quarter with an illness, it is unclear if Allen will be back for the Cavs’ next game on Thursday against the Portland Trailblazers.
Kevin Love’s struggles continued tonight as he was 3/12 from the floor, and 0/4 from three. With putting up just six points in tonight’s loss
The Cavs and Jazz end up splitting the season series with both home teams winning the two-game series.
The Cavaliers now have a 26-16 record and have now fallen to fifth place in the Eastern conference, the Philadelphia 76ers have jumped to fourth, and both teams have the same amount of wins. But the 76ers with one less loss places them ahead of the Cavaliers.
With the NBA play-in tournament the top six seeds avoid the play-in game, the Cavaliers are hanging on by a thread, with some tough games coming up soon with the Bucks coming up on the schedule soon.
The Cavaliers are on a nine-game stand against Western Conference teams and a five-game road trip, now fall to 1-2 on this five-game road trip. The next game is against the Blazers, and on Saturday playing the Minnesota Timberwolves. No word on if Allen will be back playing on Thursday.
