Jazz at Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers look to continue their recent resurgence when they host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The Cavaliers have reeled off three straight wins - including an impressive 108-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls - after losing six in a row and hope to stay on the winning track by beating the Jazz for the fourth time in their last five tries. "We have a long way to go," Cleveland coach David Blatt told reporters. "But I feel that the ship is sailing in the right direction."
Utah has lost four of its last five games and was held to its lowest scoring output of the season in the 89-69 setback to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. The Jazz, who are 25th in the NBA in points per game with 95.5, have been held to 85 or fewer in five outings and set their sights on halting a three-game road skid on Wednesday. Utah is 3-6 in the new calendar year and things could go from bad to worse as it hasn't won at Cleveland Mar. 5, 2012.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports (Utah), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (14-27): Rudy Gobert continued his stellar play by recording 13 points, a season-high 18 rebounds and four blocked shots off the bench in the loss to the Spurs. "I'm trying to get better and I'm trying to be better offensively," Gobert told reporters. "If I'm more aggressive on offense I hope that I can help the team win more games." Rodney Hood was limited to five points in 17 minutes before he re-aggravated a foot injury and his status for Wednesday is uncertain.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (22-20): LeBron James led the way with a game-high 26 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists in the win over the Bulls. J.R. Smith went 6-of-9 from 3-point range en route to 20 points and has knocked down 17 3-pointers in his last four games. Iman Shumpert, who was acquired in a multi-team trade along with Smith, has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since Dec. 12, but participated in the team shootaround on Monday and could make his debut later this week.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Cavaliers are 6-11 versus Western Conference opponents while the Jazz are 7-11 against Eastern Conference foes.
2. James has averaged 31.3 points during Cleveland's three-game winning streak.
3. The Jazz have won seven of the last 10 in the series.