NBA: The Jazz nearly gets jolted but escapes with a win over the Cavs
Cleveland, Ohio - The Utah Jazz were able to sneak away with a win on the road after withstanding a late-game push by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.
The Jazz narrowly beat the Cavs 109-108 for their fourth win in a row while snapping Cleveland’s own four-game winning streak in the process.
While the game was close during the first half, Utah had the edge in the first two quarters as they went into the half up 60-55.
Utah kept the momentum up with another strong third quarter to maintain their lead, staying ahead 91-82 going into the final quarter.
The Cavs made some great defensive adjustments in the fourth, holding the Jazz to only 18 points in total.
The pressure put up by Cleveland allowed them to tie or at least stay within one score of Utah during the final minutes of regulation.
But the Jazz were able to hold on to a one-point lead as time slowly ticked away with Utah getting the win.
The player spotlight
Utah’s shooting guard Donovan Mitchell (25) played all the right notes in making sure his team came away victorious on Sunday.
Mitchell leads the Jazz with 24.2 points per game and had to eclipse that mark in order for his team to win over the Cavs.
And he was there to drop seven points in the later stages of the fourth to help make sure his team kept the lead.
Mitchell finished the game 12 out of 21 shooting for a game-high 35 points, six assists, and three rebounds.
The big picture
With their win on Sunday, Utah started off a four-game road trip the right way.
They’ve got a decent 7-3 record on the road so far this season, so they’ll build on this close win and look to continue their success while away from Salt Lake City.
Being away from home matter less when you're the second-best scoring team in the NBA with 114 points per game and have the fifth-best scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 104.8 points per contest.
On Wednesday, the Jazz will be in Minnesota to take on the T’Wolves while on Monday, the Cavaliers will face the Bucks on the road.
Cover photo: imago/Icon SMI