National Basketball Association
Cleveland 109, Utah 100
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 16, 2017
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Officials:
#32 Marat Kogut, #7 Lauren Holtkamp, #14 Ed Malloy
Attendance:
20562
By The Sports Xchange
CLEVELAND -- This is just LeBron being LeBron, and the NBA better get used it.
LeBron James passed Larry Bird for sixth place in career triple-doubles with his third in four games and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Utah Jazz 109-100 on Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
James' 60th triple-double in 15 seasons (fifth this year) included 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. The Cavs won all four games on the homestand and coach Tyronn Lue has 100 wins in nearly two full seasons as coach.
James scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. He was 9 of 15 from the field and 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. His drive to the hoop with one second left gave the Cavs an 80-73 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"He's great making guys better around him, making guys comfortable, guys liking to play with him," Lue said. "He enjoys that. He enjoys getting guys open shots and getting guys to score points. So that's who he is."
Kevin Love had 15 points and five rebounds, and rookie Cedi Osman scored a career-high 10 points for Cleveland.
Osman, 22, who played professionally in Turkey and was brought to the Cavs this summer, logged a career-high 23 minutes and contributed four rebounds and a steal. He played the entire fourth quarter.
"He was playing well and it was a tough game for Channing (Frye) because they played five smalls in that second half," Lue said. "In that fourth quarter they went small, so the matchups were better having Cedi being able to guard the point guards, guard the twos and threes. He made some big shots, played hard, played well. We needed him tonight and he gave us a great lift."
The Jazz were playing without Rudy Gobert (knee injury) and Derrick Favors (eye laceration), who were both hurt in Friday's win over Boston.
Donovan Mitchell paced Utah with 26 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and Royce O'Neale and Thabo Sefolosha each scored 12 points off the bench.
The Jazz made 17 3-pointers to Cleveland's 10. The Cavs have made at least 10 3s in a team-record 19 consecutive games.
"We did compete," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "There's always things you want to do better but the game kind of went the way a lot of the Cavaliers' games have gone, LeBron just making plays at the end of the game."
The Jazz led 24-23 after one quarter, but the highlight from the first 12 minutes belonged to James. He caught an alley-oop in transition from Jeff Green with his left hand -- but on the right side of the rim -- and dunked it with 58.7 seconds to go.
James racked up 11 points, six boards and three assists in the first quarter. He turns 33 in two weeks, on Dec. 30.
"I know what I'm doing has not been done a lot in the history of the game, even at my age, and if you look at the minutes I've played, the consecutive Finals I've been a part of and just the toll on my body, it hasn't been done," James said.
Nine 3-pointers on 18 attempts kept the Jazz close in the first half. The Cavs led 51-48 at intermission.
Cleveland center Tristan Thompson returned from his one-game absence (sore left calf) and scored four points in seven minutes, adding two rebounds and two steals in the first half. He had missed 20 of the last 21 games.
Neither Thompson nor Dwyane Wade (3-of-11 shooting, seven points) will play Sunday against the Washington Wizards, Lue said.
NOTES: The Jazz said C Rudy Gobert suffered a sprained PCL and bone bruise in his left knee and would be re-evaluated in two weeks. Gobert, who already has missed 11 games because an injured right knee, underwent an MRI exam after getting hurt not two minutes into Friday's win over Boston. Gobert is averaging 11.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks this season. "I was trying to find a silver lining -- there isn't one -- but I guess the fact it wasn't as serious as it could have been is one," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. ... Cavs F LeBron James told cleveland.com he knew he would have this kind of dominant season during the summer. "When you know, you know," he said. "My body was recovering so rapidly. I was doing three-a-days. I was waking up at like 6 o'clock in the morning, or sometimes 5 o'clock in the morning. ... And I just seen that my shot was getting better and better. My mind started getting stronger and stronger." James entered the game averaging more points (28.1) than he has in nine seasons, and career highs in assists (9.1), shooting (.578) and 3-point shooting (.411). ... James also suggested he was unhappy that a hot mic picked up what he said to Lonzo Ball after Cleveland beat the Lakers Thursday. "Some things could be held private, like my conversation with Lonzo," he said. ... The Jazz still have two games left on a six-game road trip. They play the Houston Rockets on Monday.
Top Game Performances
Utah |
|
Cleveland |
Donovan Mitchell 26 |
Scoring |
LeBron James 29 |
Joe Ingles 9 |
Assists |
LeBron James 10 |
Ekpe Udoh 7 |
Rebounds |
LeBron James 11 |
Rodney Hood 2 |
Free Throws Made |
LeBron James 10 |
Ekpe Udoh 3 |
Steals |
Jae Crowder 2 |
Ekpe Udoh 6 |
Blocks |
Dwyane Wade 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Utah
|
100 |
45.7 |
17-34 |
9-14 |
24 |
38 |
7 |
9 |
12 |
Cleveland
|
109 |
53.2 |
10-22 |
15-17 |
30 |
41 |
1 |
9 |
12 |
Upcoming Games
-
Cleveland will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Cavaliers have a W/L % of .773 after a win and .625 after a loss.
-
Utah will play their next game on the road against Houston. The Jazz have a W/L % of .533 after a win and .400 after a loss.