Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CLEVELAND -- There’s really no way to explain it.
At EnergySolutions Arena, the Jazz are capable of beating any team in the NBA, as evidenced by their 99-98 win over Lebron James Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat on Friday.
On the road, they’re capable of losing to any team, as evidenced by their 86-80 loss on Jan 13 to the worst team in the Western Conference, the currently 9-28 New Orleans Hornets.
Utah’s 3-13 road record is so bad that only Detroit (3-15), Washington (3-14) and Charlotte (2-18) are worse than the Jazz from their respective home arenas.
The Jazz haven’t won on the road since beating the Grizzlies in Memphis on Feb 12. Since then, the Jazz are 0-6 and are looking to avoid their worst road stretch in four years tonight as they face the Cavaliers in Cleveland.
While the Jazz struggle away from ESA, the Cavs have problems of their own. Cleveland is mired in a five-game losing streak and is 3-8 since losing starting center Anderson Varejao to a fractured wrist.
The Cavs are coming off a 101-98 loss to the Wizards in Washington. The Wizards led by 10 points with 3:45 remaining. However, the Cavs rallied behind the play of rookie point guard Kyrie Irving. Irving scored eight of the Cavs nine points in the final 2½ minutes and put his team in a position to tie at the end of regulation, but teammate Anthony Parker’s three- pointer at the buzzer fell short, sending Cleveland to its fifth consecutive loss.
Thirteen-year NBA veteran Antawn Jamison told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, it’s the little things that are hurting the Cavaliers.
"A turnover here, not getting back there, those are the things that are killing us," he said. "We have to find a way to put games away and make it difficult for our opponents.
Jamison and Irving have been the most productive players for the Cavaliers this season. Jamison is second on the team in scoring, at 17.7 points per game. Irving leads the team at 18.5 points per game, and his 5.2 assists is second among NBA rookies. Only Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio has a better mark, at 8.3 assists per game.
The Jazz are coming off 102-96 loss at Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points in the Mavericks’ seventh consecutive win over the Jazz.
“His shot-making was there from the very beginning, and the guys knew that,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told the Associated Press about Nowitzki. “They kept getting him the ball and he delivered all night long.”
The Mavericks led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter, but the Jazz rallied to within five — but Dallas made plays down the stretch to put the game away.
Paul Millsap, who led the Jazz in scoring against Dallas with 24 points, said the team put forth a good effort, but that it wasn’t enough.
“We felt like we tried our best to contain them as much as possible,” Millsap told the Associated Press after the game. “But they hit some tough shots that took us out of the game.”
The Jazz have beaten the Cavs four straight times and is 5-5 in their last 10 meetings. The Jazz are 5-11 all-time at Quicken Loans Arena. Utah beat Cleveland earlier this season at ESA on Jan 10, 113-105.
The game takes place at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland at 5 p.m. and is televised on Root Sports.
Jarrod is a freelance writer who writes Jazz previews for KSL.com. You can follow Jarrod Hiatt on Twitter at @jarrodhiatt.
