With the close 120-116 win Sunday night, the Cavaliers are now 2-0 in their six-game road trip. They survived Devin Booker, Eric Bledsoe, and the entire Suns’ attempt at an upset by displaying a great shooting night (53.7 percent).
The big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love continued their offensive onslaught and lived up to the billing, as each scored 25-plus points. The trio is powering the Cavaliers to rank fourth overall scoring (110.2 PPG) and offensive efficiency.
Thanks also in large part to the matchup problems that those All-Stars pose, the team can effortlessly space the floor for shooters, which includes almost all guys on the roster. It is showing in the stat sheets really well, as they are collectively making 12.9 treys per game, second in the league behind the Rockets. Now that Kyle Korver is on-board, who’s arguably one of the best three-point specialists today, one can only imagine how frustrating it can be to guard the Cavs.
As for Tuesday’s matchup, James could do the most damage. He’s averaging 29.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.0 assists on 51.1-percent shooting in his 25 career games against the Jazz. It’s his second-highest PPG and RPG career average against any team in the NBA.
The Cavs are 10-5 on the road this season (6-9 ATS).
The Jazz are in a bit of a funk recently, having lost three of their last four. With a 23-16 card, though, their “overachievers” tag for this season is still embedded on their chests.
Also, don’t let their low-scoring ways fool you (98.3 PPG, 28th overall), they are 13th in offensive efficiency despite that for a reason. Gordon Hayward (22 PPG), George Hill (18.5 PPG), and Rudy Gobert (12.3 PPG) are all averaging career-highs in points, with Gobert also recording a league-leading 2.6 BPG.
The team is also being efficient in their shot selection. They take the fewest shots per game (77.5, eight below the league average) and are eighth in the league in shooting (46.3 percent).
Their style of slowing the pace down, executing more half-court offenses, and playing great defense is propelling them into a good position in the tough Western Conference. Additionally, it may probably be a perfect foil to almost every team being more comfortable in a fast-paced system.
That great defense will be in for quite the challenge versus the defending champs, but they too are also bringing in numbers that could have James and company in check. The Jazz are allowing the lowest shooting percentage (43.1 percent), fewest APG (17.7), fewest fastbreak points per game (10.3), and fourth-fewest RPG (41.0) in the NBA.
