There weren’t any late-game heroics from Utah’s Gordon Hayward this time.
The Cleveland Cavaliers raced away from the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena, 106-92, extending their winning streak to four.
The rout started early as the Cavs stormed out to an 11-point advantage after one quarter, 31-20. Cleveland’s Big Three — Kyrie Irving (seven points), LeBron James (seven) and Kevin Love (nine) — combined for 23 points in the first 12 minutes, more than Utah had as a team.
In a one-sided game that featured four lead changes and one tie, the Cavaliers led by as many as 28 points, bringing the sellout crowd to its feet throughout with highlight-reel alley-oops, message-sending blocks and open-court theatrics.
James, who missed Tuesday’s practice with flu-like symptoms, showed no ill effects. He scored a game-high 26 points, punctuated by a ferocious third quarter dunk on Hayward.
The powerful slam had a little extra meaning, as Hayward had written days after Utah’s win against Cleveland on Nov. 5 that James could no longer “bully” him.
For the second game in a row, the Cavaliers used a balanced scoring attack to overwhelm the opponent as each member of the starting lineup finished with at least 15 points (James 26, J.R. Smith 15, Irving 18, Love 19, Timofey Mozgov 16).
The Cavaliers shot 42-of-81 (51 percent) from the field.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
