LeBron James scored 33 points, Kevin Love added 10 playing for the first time after Feb 2, and the Cavaliers beat the Jazz 91-83 on Thursday night.
"Kyrie looked at me and said he probably won't be able to finish the game," James said. "With Kev being on a minutes’ restriction coming back, I knew Shump was out, I had to step up the scoring load a little bit." The MVP candidate also grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out six assists and turned on the jets defensively, jumping passing lanes, blocking shots and coming up with steals.
"We all know how good he is," Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
"You get to a certain point in the game, that's what you expect. We tried to take stuff away from him, but we made it too easy on him at times and he doesn't need any help. We didn't make baskets late, and we didn't execute the way that we needed to on the offensive end."
Love, who hadn't played since Feb. 11, logged 20 minutes and came one rebound shy of a double-double (10 points, nine boards) to help Cleveland get an important victory over Utah.
"He worked hard every day," Cavaliers' coach Tyronn Lue said. "He's ready to go. That's good for us being back two weeks early."
Cleveland Cavaliers' records
The Cavs signed Larry Sanders who has been assigned to the Canton Charge, their D-League affiliate.
Sanders did not plays against the Jazz. He made his debut with the Cavs, playing two minutes vs the Pistons. General manager David Griffin said Sanders will had the D-League to work on his timing. Cleveland is up to 887 made 3-pointers on the season, a franchise record, beating last season's mark of 880. They have 14 more games after tonight to pad the record.
LeBron James came into the game against the Utah Jazz needing eight field goals for 13th on the all-time list. He managed to do so, passing Tim Duncan (10,285 FGM) in the fourth quarter.
Rudy Gobert led again the Jazz with 20 points and 18 rebounds. The visiting team played in Detroit on Wednesday and appeared unable to get over the fatigue, let alone the injuries in the fourth quarter.
Gobert did it all with 12 points, 9 rebound, 5 assists and 4 blocks as part of the Jazz's 97-83 win over the Pistons. Additionally, Gobert is considered to be one of the best defenders in the NBA. The main reason for that is the way he aids his teammates while the opponents attack the rim.
"I think every loss is a tough loss," Gobert said after the game against the Cavs. "This one was frustrating because it was right there for the taking."
There is one complaint coming from Utah
Gordon Hayward was 4 of 14 from the field and scored 13 points. Joe Johnson and Joe Ingles each added 12 points for the Jazz who is 20-14 on the road. On the other hand, Jazz SG Rodney Hood was out against the Cavaliers due to the right knee soreness that has been an issue for two months now.
Derrick Favors (knee) and backup Shelvin Mack (ankle) also did not play.
Cavaliers: A Cavs locker room attendant just placed new Beats by Dre headphones in Larry Sanders', Deron Williams' and Derrick Williams' lockers. The perks of being new teammates with LeBron James.
Jazz: The Jazz's games aren't on national TV and there is one complain coming from Utah that the local team doesn't get enough national recognition. The fact is that much great coverage has come out about the Jazz only in recent weeks, and if you're paying attention, the Jazz are starting to be the talk of the nation. Even LeBron James said this postgame: "That's a great team... A lot of people don't know because they don't play on national TV."