Written by Demetri Inembolidis

---

The narrative leading into Monday night’s Cavs game against the Utah Jazz was how much the visiting team struggles on the road.  The Jazz only had 3 road wins in 13 attempts.  If one thing is evident so far into the season, it is that the Cavs should not take any opponents lightly.  They appeared to do so against the Jazz, who also beat the Cavs on January 10th.  

The game in Cleveland felt like a bad case of deja vu.  In both games, the Jazz big men rotation was too much for Cleveland to handle.  In the first meeting, Al Jefferson, Paul Milsap and Derrick Favors combined for 27 made shots in 33 attempts.  Any time three players take 33 shots and make 81.2%, it is going to be nearly impossible to win.  

One has to question whether the Cavs did not respect their opponent or if the Jazz big men were simply too much to handle for Ryan Hollins, Samardo Samuels, Antawn Jamison and Tristan Thompson.  Given the inconsistent nature of the Cavs, it could be a combination of both factors.

The Jazz are doing a stellar job at rebuilding.  They were a team that had a lot of regular season and playoff success, but their general manager Kevin O’Connor has been trading veterans and amassing a nice collection of first round picks.  The Jazz do not have anybody who is considered a star player, but their big man rotation is among the best in the NBA.  In addition to their own picks, they were able to draft Gordan Hayward and Enes Kanter via trades.  Additionally, the Jazz will have their own and the New Jersey Nets’ first round picks to use in this upcoming draft.  

The reason that I bring this up is to point out that the Jazz do not have as many deficiencies in the roster as Cleveland does.  They have a legitimate championship caliber big man rotation.  They could probably use an upgrade at point guard and at the wings, but they can probably work around that using many of their assets this summer.  The Jazz may be a bad team on the road, but they should not have any problems beating a team that has to choose between starting Semih Erden and Ryan Hollins.  

The Cavs fell behind early and a lot of it had to do with Kyrie Irving’s struggles.  He had a single point in the first half and he missed all 6 of his shots.  Irving took his game to another level in the second half and he finished with 22 points.  He had another convincing fourth quarter (8 points on 4/5 shooting), but it was too little, too late for the Cavaliers.  

The other takeaway story from the game was how poorly the Cavs rebounded.  The Jazz finished with 46 rebounds, 13 of which were on the offensive end.  The Cavs are statistically a decent rebounding team, but the loss of Anderson Varejao and the matchup proved to be too much.   

Gordon Hayward came off the bench and he matched his season high with 23 points.  Hayward appears to be playing more comfortably, which is great for the Jazz.  

I am of the belief that it is too meaningless to get hung up on how many games the Cavs win or lose this year.  This campaign has always been about bigger things in the future.  Having said that, I do not feel like the Cavs are currently on the right path.  They have lost 6 in a row and the month of March only looks to get tougher.  Again, it isn’t important if the Cavs win or lose, but it is imperative that the team remains competitive.