Cavs Streak Snapped in Sunday Thriller

There are no moral victories in the NBA, but if you’re going to have a four-game win streak snapped, an effort like Sunday’s is the way to do it.

The Wine and Gold were down 15 points in the fourth quarter before mounting a furious comeback, even taking a brief lead before eventually succumbing to the hot-shooting Jazz – unable to sink a last-second shot in the 109-108 thriller on Sunday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

One game after sinking 27 three-pointers in a win over Boston, the Jazz continued their aerial bombardment – drilling 30 triples on 48 attempts, which proved to be the difference in the contest. Five Utah players finished with at least three made threes in Sunday’s matinee.

Darius Garland was outstanding once again – netting nine of his team-high 31 points in the closing quarter. Garland’s floater with 3:10 to play gave Cleveland a two-point edge and his pullup shot with 1:27 got the Cavs back to within one after a pair of Jazz buckets.

Evan Mobley swatted Donovan Mitchell’s layup attempt with 22 seconds to play, but the Cavaliers couldn’t score on their final possession, with Garland’s 28-foot attempt drawing back iron and Mobley’s putback attempt failing to fall.

On the night, Garland went 11-for-19 from the floor and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, adding five assists, four boards and a team-best four steals, posting his second straight 30-point game, third of his career.

Jarrett Allen registered his seventh straight double-double – tallying 17 points and 10 boards, going 7-for-12 from the floor, adding two assists, two steals and a pair of blocks.

Evan Mobley also doubled-up in the loss – pitching in with 14 points and a team-high 12 boards, adding three assists and the Cavs biggest blocked shot of the night.

Ricky Rubio added 15 points in 31 action-packed minutes of work off the bench, scoring 12 of those after intermission, going 6-for-11 from the floor, adding four boards and a pair of assists.

Cedi Osman returned from a three-game absence with a sore lower back to notch 11 points off the bench – keying Cleveland’s fourth quarter comeback, going 4-of-7 from the floor overall, adding five boards, four assists and a pair of steals.

The Jazz were led by Donovan Mitchell, who led both teams with 35 points, going 12-for-21 from the field, including 4-of-8 from long-distance. Fellow All-Star Rudy Gobert was just as dominant on the defensive end – leading both teams with 20 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Miss any of the action? Find all the highlights and photos in the Game Tracker.

Cedi Osman steals the ball and slams down a dunk as Mr. Fourth Quarter.

A different Cavaliers team might have capitulated when Utah upped its advantage to 15 points early in the fourth period. But not this group.

After the Jazz took that sizeable lead less than a minute into the quarter, the Wine and Gold stormed back behind some stellar defensive play by Cedi Osman and Isaac Okoro – exploding for a 15-0 run in a three-minute span, forcing Quin Snyder to call timeouts to stop the bleeding just 48 seconds apart.

Once Cleveland tied the contest at 97-apiece with 8:43 to play, neither team got more than three points apart from each other the rest of the way.

By the Numbers - 31.5, .611, .714 … points that Darius Garland is averaging over his last two games, along with his shooting percentages, respectively, from the floor (22-for-36) and from long-range (10-of-14).

In his first two 30-point games of the season, the 3rd-year man from Vanderbilt has also drilled all nine free throws he’s attempted, while averaging 7.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds over the two-game span.

Ricky Rubio, on the team’s never-say-die attitude …

”Even though we’re young, we never give up. We’ve been in every single game this season. After the four wins in a row that we just had, it would have been easy just saying, ‘Hey, we have another game tomorrow.’ But we’re not like that. We’re not built like that. And I think it says a lot about the identity of this team. If we continue to play like this, down the stretch we’re gonna win a lot of games.”

Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.

Sunday’s one-point defeat to the Jazz tips off a busy week in which the Cavs will play five games in seven nights – including the second half of the back-to-back on Monday night, taking on the World Champs in Milwaukee.

On Wednesday night, the Wine and Gold return home for a big matchup with the Central Division-leading Bulls at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, get right back on the road for a Friday night battle with the Timberwolves in Minnesota and wrap up the week with a visit from the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.