Jazz Beat Cavaliers 117-91 Against Familiar Faces

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Utah Jazz picked up a much need win as they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-91, Utah saw Alec Burks and Rodney Hood for the first time in a Cleveland uniform with Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver playing the Cavaliers for the first time since joining the Jazz.

Donovan Mitchell scored 18 points to go with 5 assists to lead the Jazz, while Ricky Rubio scored 15 points and Rudy Gobert had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Alec Burks led the Cavaliers with 17 points while Rodney Hood chipped in 12 points.

Neither team got off to a hot start shooting the ball in the first five minutes. Utah hit 3-of-9 from the field and Cleveland made three of their first 10 attempts. The game was tied at 8 with former Jazz man Rodney Hood scoring four points.

The Jazz outscored the Cavaliers 15-12 to end the first quarter with a 23-20 advantage. Alec Burks added a three-pointer in the first quarter with the former Jazz men scoring 7 first quarter points.

Utah had four players score five points in the opening quarter that include Joe Ingles, Derrick Favors, Dante Exum and Kyle Korver.

Burks and Hood each scored another triple in the second quarter that sparked a 14-2 run by the Cavaliers to take a nine point lead early in the period, 34-25.

➕ the smile for the former teammate 😁 pic.twitter.com/WjTRTiATqL

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 5, 2019

Ricky Rubio stopped the run by scoring five quick points to help the Jazz on a 9-4 run to trail 38-34.

Cleveland stretched the lead back to nine before Utah would counter with another three points by Rubio.

Mitchell hit a three-pointer late in the first half and Cleveland had just on one point lead at the break, 49-48.

Both teams went back-and-forth with Utah staying close to Cleveland before they went on a 9-0 run with three minutes left in the third quarter. The Jazz had their largest lead of the game, 70-64. That run stretched to 17-4 when Utah had a double digit lead late in the third quarter. Utah would take an 81-71 lead into the fourth quarter.

Former Cavalier Crowder scored five straight points for Utah to start the fourth quarter, forcing Cleveland to call a timeout. Utah was up 86-71 with 11:11 left in the game.

The Jazz would put the game away with a 29-20 run.

🔘Q1
🔘Q2
🔘Q3
🔘Q4#TeamIsEverything | #UTAatCLE pic.twitter.com/j5oQkkjFa0

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 5, 2019

Familiar Faces, Different Places

It was the first time that Alec Burks and Rodney Hood faced their former team since being traded, Hood last season and Burks earlier this season. It was also the first time that both Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver returned to Cleveland since joining the Utah Jazz.

Crowder scored 16 points and pulled down 5 rebounds on 5-of-9 from the field, including 3-for-7 from downtown.

Korver added 14 points off the bench to go with 5-for-5 from the free-throw-line.

NBA family 💙#ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/U1cFiGAUxo

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 5, 2019

Up Next

The Jazz improved to 19-20. They will make their third stop on their four game road trip on Saturday against the Detroit Pistons. Detroit is 17-19 on the year and have lost three of their last four games. Saturday will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams with Utah winning both games last season.

They picked up a 98-95 overtime win in Detroit and a dominating 110-79 victory in Salt Lake City. Tip-off will be at 5 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.