by Alma Bean
Feature Image: Jason Miller of Getty Images
The Utah Jazz (17-15) travels to take on Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers (20-11) for the second game of their three-game road trip.
D.O.N. Issues for Utah
From the opening tip-off, looked as if Donovan Mitchell (23/2/1) was ready for his revenge game against Utah. Starting off the game 4/5 (80%) with three of those shots coming from beyond the perimeter. The rest of Cleveland shot 1/3 (33.3%) from the perimeter for the quarter. Utah showed some promise starting a 7-0 run with their bench unit after trailing 19-10. Even with a valiant effort, including seven points from Lauri Markkanen (24/6/1), Utah finished the quarter behind 29-21.
The second quarter continued to play in Cleveland’s favor. Only missing one shot within the perimeter going 10/11 (90.9%), Utah was looking for any way to respond. Utah’s only positive shooting came from the free-throw line. Going 7/7 (100%) from the line, it makes up for Utah’s lack of shooting from the field going 7/22 (31.8%). Markkanen continued to be the center point of Utah’s offense having half of their points as they went into the half trailing 62-44.
(1) Utah Jazz on Twitter: “honestly iconic, @Thortontucker https://t.co/yxQruwKXiC” / Twitter
Uphill, More Like Up Mountains
After letting the first half slip away, Utah seemed to get the message going into the third quarter. Having their most made interior shots of the game going 6/16 (37.5%), though the percentage may not look pretty, it’s something for this Utah team. Utah got to see a glimpse of hope as Mitchell picked up his fourth foul halfway through the quarter. Without Mitchell, seemed as if Jarrett Allen (20/11/2) was able to work in the paint with the ball movement from Darius Garland (17/1/8). The positive for Utah was that they were able to keep the quarter matchup close but went into the final quarter trailing 90-71.
Utah Jazz on Twitter: “♬ block & roll ♬ https://t.co/9eP0WCKd9t” / Twitter
The fourth quarter felt like Utah was ready to move on to their next matchup. Cleveland was ready to put the nail in the coffin with Cedi Osman (22/2/1). Osman scored 20 of his points in the fourth quarter with his 5/6 (83.3%) perimeter shooting. Though Utah’s starters tried to stop the bleeding, coach Will Hardy threw in the white flag halfway through the quarter sending in players like Udoka Azubuike (4/4/1) and Leandro Bolmaro (2 points and 1 rebound). In Utah’s first matchup against Mitchell since his trade, Mitchell got the final laugh as Cleveland wins 122-99.
(1) Utah Jazz on Twitter: “second effort ☑️ https://t.co/IgoboWqSdF” / Twitter
What’s Next?
It will be a quick turnaround for Utah as they play their ninth back-to-back of the season on Tuesday as they play the Detroit Pistons for the second and final time this season.
The Hive Sports 
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