CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cavaliers hung tough against the playoff-bound Utah Jazz Monday night, but they needed more bodies.
Kevin Love and Collin Sexton, despite their best efforts, just weren’t enough to carry them to victory.
Love and Sexton combined for 54 points, with Sexton scoring a career-high 32, in a 126-113 loss to the Jazz at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, their 44th defeat on the season.
“Obviously we were shorthanded, but I felt like we fought very hard considering,” Love said.
“We’re fighting the battle of attrition right now.”
Cleveland just didn’t have the manpower to compete at the same level as Utah and what earlier in the season would’ve been a rout was kept competitive throughout the night.
Head coach B.J. Bickerstaff only had nine players dress Monday night leaving him with a starting five of Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr., Kevin Love, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr. He kept his rotation to seven with Matt Mooney and Dean Wade getting the DNP – coach’s decision until the final minute of the game.
“I was trying to keep the rotation where guys were getting enough blows but were still going to have to play quite a few minutes,” Bickerstaff said.
Center Andre Drummond missed his third in four games with a calf injury, guard Darius Garland was out with a groin injury, forward Tristan Thompson was sidelined due to a a knee contusion, forward Alfonso McKinnie has plantar fasciitis and guard Dante Exam a sprained ankle.
“These guys showed up and knew they were undermanned just because of all the guys that were going to be out, and they scraped,” Bickerstaff said. “They left it all out there tonight. You almost have to play perfect. The effort was there all night.”
Sexton shot an efficient 11 of 17, including 4 of 6 from 3. Love had 22 and nine rebounds, but after holding a six-point lead late in the second quarter, the Jazz took control and didn’t let go.
“We needed one more piece, one more body,” Sexton said. “We got a little winded out there. We played a lot of minutes, but I felt like we played tough tonight and we played physical.”
Larry Nance Jr. had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists and Kevin Porter Jr. scored 16 as well but made just 5 of 14 shots.
“These are all experiences for him and opportunity for growth,” Bickerstaff said of Porter. “I thought he took advantage of it.”
Matthew Dellavedova had a season-high 9 assists off the bench, and he scored 5 points in just over 29 minutes.
Cleveland got just 13 points of scoring off their short bench that saw Bickerstaff go with a seven-man rotation for most of the game while Utah had the luxury of using a nine-man rotation most of the night and got 32 points off the pine.
Bojan Bogdonovic led the Jazz with 28 and Rudy Gobert added 20 more as six scored in double figures in their 38th victory of the season.
The Jazz led 31-25 after 1 that saw the teams exchange the lead seven times and Utah’s starting frontcourt outscore Cleveland’s 29-8 in the opening quarter.
Utah ended the first half on an 18-4 run to turn a 47-41 deficit into a 59-51 halftime advantage and a quick 6-0 spurt to begin the second half pushed their lead to double figures.
Although the Jazz led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter, the Cavs climbed within 10 with just over a minute to play but that’s as close as they got.
Underappreciated – Bickerstaff doesn’t feel Sexton is getting the respect he deserves in his second season, especially in recent weeks.
“I think Collin is talented, I think he’s underappreciated,” Bickerstaff said. “I think his skillset is going to grow and get better. We’re very fortunate to have him, a guy who every single day shows up to work. He shows up to compete every single night.
“When you’re starting something, those are the type of people you want to have around.”
Welcome back – Jordan Clarkson received a nice reception from fans in his return to Cleveland for the first time since he was dealt to Utah.
Before tipoff, Clarkson hugged several Cavs, including Kevin Love, who put him in a playful headlock.
“That’s my brother,” Love said. “That’s my family. JC, it’s become definitely bigger than basketball between he two of us so, I consider him like family.”
Clarkson led the Jazz bench scoring with 13 points.
