Jazz Pick Up 6th Straight Win In Dominating Fashion Over Cavaliers
Jan 18, 2019, 9:26 PM | Updated: 9:56 pm
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) high fives Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) after having a foul called on him against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 18, 2019. (Silas Walker, Deseret News)
(Silas Walker, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz picked up their sixth straight win after they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-99 with two familiar faces returning to Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 24 points and 4 assists in 26 minutes. Rudy Gobert continued to be a force on the defensive end and rebounding with 19 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. He passed Andrei Kirilenko for eighth on the franchise rebounding list. Royce O’Neale chipped in 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Ante Zizic scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers. Former Jazz men Alec Burks and Rodney played in Salt Lake City for the first time since they were traded.
Burks had six points and six rebounds on just 3-of-11 shooting from the field. Hood scored just four points on just one made field goal in six attempts.
Dominate Second Quarter For Jazz
Utah ran away with the game in the second quarter after they outscored the Cavaliers 29-20 in the opening quarter.
Mitchell owned the first half with 19 points points but had a great dunk as well.
Us: I love you
Donovan: I know pic.twitter.com/EF8nHFr8hd
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 19, 2019
The Jazz outscored Cleveland 32-17 in the second quarter and had a 61-37 halftime lead. The Cavaliers shot just 27 percent from the field and made just one of their 13 three-point attempts. Burks and Hood each had four points in the first half.
All love ❤️#ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/Yyh2yJbuWs
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 19, 2019
Jazz Coast To Win
Utah picked up where they left off in the second half as they jumped out to a 19-9 run to start the third quarter. That run inflated to 26-12 with three minutes left in the third quarter. By the end of the period, Utah was up by 33 points.
The starters sat for basically the entire fourth quarter and the Jazz pick up their sixth straight win, their longest winning streak of the season.
Da da da daaaa daaaa da da da daaaa da, da da da daaa da, da da da daaaa!! 🎶#StarWarsNight | #TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/jtzc28dE9p
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 19, 2019
Dunk Tracker
Rudy Gobert is on track to beat Dwight Howard’s record for the most dunks in one season with 269 in the 2007-08 season. Gobert entered the night with a league-best 165 dunks and added four more slams to put his total at 169. Houston Rockets center Clint Capela is second in the league with 160 but he will be out four to six weeks with a thumb injury.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has 156 dunks this season. The Bucks did not have a game on Friday.
Up Next
The Jazz improved their record to 25-21 on the season and have won eight of their last nine games. They will be off until Monday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers, who are 27-19 on the year.
This will be the third meeting between the two teams this season. Utah won the first meeting in Portland 120-90 on December 21 and back at home on Christmas Day 117-96. The game will begin at 7 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.
