Utah Jazz vs Cleveland Cavaliers Pregame Analysis

by Alma Bean Feature Image by Jeffrey D Allred of Deseret News The Utah Jazz (10-17) starts their five-game road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers (15-12). What to Look For Utah is coming into this game winning three of their last four games while Cleveland is looking to extend their current win streak to three…

Alma Bean

December 20, 2023

1–2 minutes

Brice Sensabaugh, Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Garland, donovan mitchell, Evan Mobley, John Collins, Johnny Juzang, Jordan Clarkson, Josh Christopher, Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, Micah Potter, NBA, Ochai Agbaji, Omer Yurtseven, Ricky Rubio, Sam Merrill, Simone Fontecchio, Ty Jerome, Utah Jazz

by Alma Bean

Feature Image by Jeffrey D Allred of Deseret News

The Utah Jazz (10-17) starts their five-game road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers (15-12).

What to Look For

Utah is coming into this game winning three of their last four games while Cleveland is looking to extend their current win streak to three games. The glaring difference between these two teams is going to be their home and away records. Utah is currently 2-12 on the road while Cleveland is 8-6 at home. Along with Cleveland’s home record, their record against teams under .500 is 8-1. Though those records may be discouraging for Utah fans, Cleveland is an even 5-5 on the season against teams in the west.

Even with Cleveland having a 15-12 record, 16 of their games have been within single digits and have a record of 9-7 in single digit games. Utah has 11 games that have been decided by single digits with a record of 7-4 in those games. As long as Utah doesn’t allow Cleveland to run away with the game, we could see this game coming down to the final buzzer.

Key of the Game

Perimeter shooting. For qualifying players, Utah has four players in the top-100 in three-point percentage (Ochai Agbaji, John Collins, Simone Fontecchio and Lauri Markkanen) while Cleveland is left off the list. This doesn’t mean that Cleveland is lacking from the perimeter, especially with the recent emergence of Sam Merrill. In the last four games, Merrill is 52 percent from the perimeter while averaging just over six attempts per game. Given Cleveland’s injuries, the perimeter may turn out to be Utah’s friend as Cleveland looks to find a new identity in the absence of their stars.

Injury Report

Cleveland – Darius Garland (jaw) Out, Ty Jerome (ankle) Out, Donovan Mitchell (illness) Questionable, Evan Mobley (knee) Out, Ricky Rubio (personal reasons) Out

Utah – Josh Christopher (G League) Out, Jordan Clarkson (hamstring) Out, Keyonte George (foot) Out, Johnny Juzang (G League) Out, Micah Potter (G League) Out, Brice Sensabaugh (G League) Out, Omer Yurtseven (illness) Out

Where to Watch

Tip-off will be at 5:00 p.m. MST on KJZZ and Jazz+.

Author

Written by

Alma Bean

I am currently a student at the University of Utah working toward my second bachelor’s degree, this time in communication with an emphasis in journalism. I currently have a bachelor’s degree in music from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida. As I pursue a degree in communication, I dream to bring this emphasis of journalism to the world of sports. When I’m not writing, I allow my inner basketball fan to come out as I watch previous games and highlights across the NBA to become a walking, talking sports almanac.

The Hive Sports