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Wrap-Up -- It’s not always pretty against the Utah Jazz. But by the same token, a home win at this time of year with Kevin Love returning to the lineup could almost be considered a thing of beauty.
The Cavaliers don’t play at home much this month – but they made hay while the sun was shining this week – sweeping their mini two-game homestand with Thursday night’s hard-fought 91-83 win, Cleveland’s fifth straight win over the Jazz at The Q.
Love – who last saw action on February 11 against Denver – had been ahead of schedule throughout his rehab stint following arthroscopic knee surgery and, although he was expected to play this weekend, was able to give it a go against Utah – finishing with 10 points and nine boards in just under 20 minutes of action.
Aside from Love’s comeback, as the great Joe Tait used to say: ‘They won’t be sending tape of this one to Springfield.’
Both teams shot just 42 percent from the floor. The Jazz shot 24 percent from long-range and the Cavaliers were only slightly better – going 9-for-33 from beyond the arc. Both teams committed double-digit miscues and the ugliness even extended to the free throw line, where the Cavaliers were 10-of-19; Utah, 10-of-14.
Of course, even the staunch Jazz defense had no answer for LeBron James – who continues his late season barrage.
For the fourth time in his last seven outings, LeBron topped the 30-point plateau – finishing with 33 points on 13-for-20 shooting, including 2-of-5 from long range. James had his triple-double streak snapped at two games, but he continued to dominate the boards – posting double-digit rebounds for the ninth time in his last ten outings – leading Cleveland with 10 rebounds to go with six assists, a pair of steals and a block.
Kyrie Irving also kept rolling – posting his 17th straight game of at least 20 points – adding 21 points on 8-for-19 shooting, adding four boards and four assists before leaving the game in the fourth quarter after suffering some tightness in his left knee.
The only other Cavalier to tally double-figures on Thursday was J.R. Smith, who notched his second game of 12 points off the bench – and after starting his comeback going 4-for-19 from long-range through the first three games, has combined to go 7-for-12 over his last two.
LBJ stuffs the stat sheet as the Wine and Gold grind out the victory at The Q.
The Jazz were led by Rudy Gobert, who doubled-up with 20 points and a game-high 19 boards – blocking a pair of shots to make it 37 straight games with at least one swat.
Gobert was 10-of-13 from the floor on Thursday night; the rest of Utah’s starters were a combined 17-for-48.
Turning Point -- The Jazz don’t get blown out very often and despite playing the previous evening in Motown, were locked and loaded for the Cavs on Thursday.
At first, it looked like the Wine and Gold might be able to pull away – running out to a two-touchdown lead early in the second quarter. But Cleveland went cold to close the first half, with Utah ending the opening stanza on a 10-2 run to go into the locker room just a deuce.
The Cavaliers held their edge after intermission, but Trey Lyles drilled a triple less than a minute into the fourth quarter to give Utah its first lead of the night. Three minutes later, Gobert’s layup put the Jazz up three, 77-74, with 8:30 to play.
But on Cleveland’s next possession, J.R. Smith tied the affair with a three-pointer. LeBron would proceed to score the next seven points – on a pair of free throws, a dunk and three-pointer – giving the Wine and Gold a seven-point edge and just enough room to begin icing the victory.
By the Numbers – 12-3 … Cavaliers’ home record against the Western Conference at The Q this season, wrapping up the inter-Conference home portion of their schedule on Thursday night. The Cavs have now won 32 of their last 38 games against the West on the corner of Huron and Ontario.
Quotable – Kevin Love, on his return to the lineup …
”(I’m) happy to be back, especially to get one in front of our home crowd before we go on a four-game road trip. So it was good…It was either going to be this weekend or tonight, I think once I saw how I was progressing and didn’t have any hiccups along the way, that tonight just felt right and we decided it was in front of our home crowd (that I would come back). It felt good.”
Up Next -- After their two-game stopover at The Q, the Wine and Gold get right back on the road – where they’ll play six of their final eight games this month. This weekend, they travel to Tinseltown for their annual Staples Center back-to-back, facing off against Doc Rivers’ Clippers on Saturday before taking on Luke Walton’s Lakers the following night. After a two-day break, Cleveland heads for the Rockies – facing off against the Nuggets in Denver next Wednesday. Tyronn Lue’s squad wraps up the roadie next Friday night in Charlotte.