Written by Demetri Inembolidis

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Although the Cavs were only out-rebounded by a margin of 46-40, it felt like the Utah Jazz were securing every important rebound as throughout the game.  Tyler Zeller did his best to help the Cavs on the rebounding front by securing a career-high 14.  

The Jazz have a formidable frontcourt and the Cavs needed to play a near flawless game to compete.  They did not.  The Cavs let the Jazz score 21 fastbreak points on only 12 shots.  The Cavs shot terrible from three point range.  They let Derrick Favors tie his season high with 19 points.  In addition to giving up a lot of fast break points, the Cavs only scored 5 on the night.  

As is a recurring theme for the Cavs, they lose a lot of games where they need to play an almost-perfect game by not even coming close to doing that.  Because of poor play and facing teams with superior talent, the Cavs finished their western conference road trip with a 1-4 record.  

The story of the night was Dion Waiters.  He once again came off the bench and scored 23 points.  On the surface, this does not sound very impressive.  Waiters shot 6-14 from the field and 10-12 from the free throw line.  It was nice to see Waiters not rely on the three point shot or shots outside the paint.  Waiters was attacking throughout the entire game and was rewarded by getting to the free throw line.  Waiters set the tone in the second quarter by having a vicious dunk over Derrick Favors.

The Jazz starting frontcourt of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap is formidable.  What makes them scary is that Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors come off the bench.  While both of them are raw and young, they are legitimately talented enough to be starters on a lot of teams.  The underhanded Cavs frontcourt did what they could, but it proved to be tough without Anderson Varejao.  Tyler Zeller has 13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks and a few drawn charges.  Tristan Thompson had 12 points and 11 rebounds, which was good for his 15th double-double of the season.  

C.J. Miles had played his first ever game as an opponent of the Jazz in the Energy Solutions Arena.  Miles came out gunning and got off to a hot start.  He regressed back to the mean and had only 12 points on 11 shots.  It is disappointing that Mo Williams is still injured.  It is interesting that Anderson Varejao, Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson did not play of the game.  These are three guys who are the last vestiges of the most recent Cavs teams to make a run in the playoffs and none played either due to injuries or the coach's decision.  

The Cavs now lead the league is the most amount of road games with 26.  The road-heavy first half of the season means that the Cavs are going to be playing a lot of games at the Quicken Loans Arena soon.  This should be welcome news for Byron Scott and the team.  Although the Cavs have also struggled at home, they can use any helop that they can get.  The Cavs only have two road games before the all star break.  It is important that the team makes the most of the home-heavy schedule.  One can only make excuses for poor play on the road if the team actually delivers at home.  If they don't, they're simply a bad team.  

Kyrie Irving struggled shooting the ball.  He was clearly getting frustrated early in the game and played as if he were a little detached.  Irving took 20 shots and scored 18 points.  All was not bad with on the Irving front.  He had 9 assists and only 2 turnovers.

The Cavs officially reached the second half of the season with the loss to the Jazz.  Hopefully they do not take a page out of the second half Cavs playbook and come out flat in the third quarter.  The Cavs once again looked horrible in the third quarter and were outscored 31-20.  

This road trip could not have ended sooner for the team and it is a relief that it is over.  The Boston Celtics will travel to Cleveland to take on the Cavs on Tuesday.  Tip off is at 7:39.