Jazz at Cavaliers
The Utah Jazz picked themselves up and snapped a four-game slide on Friday, just in time to switch the momentum in front of a four-game road trip. The Jazz will try to get that trip started with a victory when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
Utah, which faces three teams fighting for lottery position on the trip, went a disappointing 2-4 on the just completed homestand but leaned on star guard Donovan Mitchell and came away with a 129-119 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday. "This is a good feeling," Mitchell told reporters. "Obviously, we've been going through a little bit of a rough stretch, and this win feels really good, but we've got to keep things in perspective. It's one win, and we've got to keep it moving forward. But we played really well tonight." Cleveland turned heads with home wins over Miami and Philadelphia early last week but dropped both ends of a back-to-back at New Orleans and against Indiana on Friday and Saturday to fall to 3-3 since J.B. Bickerstaff took over as head coach during the All-Star break. "These are great learning experiences for us," Bickerstaff told reporters after the 113-104 loss to the Pacers on Saturday. "Being in tight games in fourth quarters and understanding the pressures of the moment. So, if it happens again, you understand you can be a little more physical in the fourth quarter when the game's on the line. These are great opportunities for all of our guys."
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, FS Ohio
ABOUT THE JAZZ (37-22): Utah sits in fifth place in the Western Conference but is still within shouting distance of the No. 2 spot and is just focused on taking steps forward and improving as it advances toward the postseason. "People overreact to winning and losing - the idea is to keep getting better," center Rudy Gobert told reporters. "Sometimes you win games that you don't deserve to win, and sometimes you lose games that you deserve to win. It's all about the way you lose and the way you win, and it's all about where we're gonna be when the playoffs come." Gobert, who averages 15.3 points and 14.1 rebounds, delivered nine points, nine rebounds and four blocks in Friday's triumph and has gone four straight games without posting a double-double.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (17-43): Center Andre Drummond (calf) returned from a two-game absence on Saturday and enjoyed his best performance since joining the team at the trade deadline with 27 points and 13 rebounds while fellow center Tristan Thompson (knee contusion) missed the contest. Thompson, who is day-to-day, had been Bickerstaff's preferred fourth-quarter option in the middle and the team was outscored 27-18 in the final period on Saturday. Veteran power forward Kevin Love put together his best all-around performance since the All-Star break with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists against the Pacers.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Jazz PG Jordan Clarkson, who was acquired in a trade from Cleveland in December, averaged 17.9 points on 52.3 percent shooting in February.
2. Cavaliers rookie SG Kevin Porter Jr. is averaging 16.3 points over the last four games.
3. Utah took the last three in the series, including a 117-91 triumph in its visit to Cleveland last season.