Jazz can’t bounce back with a loss to Donovan Mitchell’s Cavs

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA; The Utah Jazz had one of the worst – and were in the fourth game of a long road trip that had taken them from coast to coast.

So with 4:39 left, it was obviously a 1-point game.

In the end, however, the Cavs’ talent prevailed.

Utah scored just 5 points in 4:39 of that finale as Cleveland pulled away 124-113 on Monday.

Jordan Clarkson had 27 points, Lauri Markkanen added 26 points and Collin Sexton finished the game with 24, leading the Jazz’s surprise offense.

Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points and seven assists against his former team. That wasn’t exactly the flashiest stat, but his brief look at the game showed what the Jazz have been missing since the team traded him in 2022.

Mitchell scored 6 points after the Jazz cut a 17-point Cleveland lead to 1. He hit a short jumper to increase the lead back to 3 points. He later made a nifty move around Walker Kessler to extend Cleveland’s lead to five and fouled Sexton after the Jazz were within single digits.

As for the Jazz, they suffered from missed free throws, poor defensive plays and an overwhelming turnover from Clarkson.

And the team’s best player – Markkanen – didn’t have a single shot attempt in the final four minutes.

The loss dropped Utah to 7-21 on the season and ended its two-game winning streak. Cleveland improved to 26-4 on the year.

This story will be updated.