The Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves in a 15-point hole heading into the second half and, despite playing much better, could not dig themselves out to end their now six-game losing streak.
The Cavs outscored the Jazz by six in the second half and a big reason for that was the emergence of rookie Kyrie Irving. After starting 0-for-6, he dropped 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting in the second half. He finished with a team-high along with Antawn Jamison.
Utah shot 50-percent for the game, led by Al Jefferson who scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Rookie Gordon Hayward contributed 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting off the bench.
Cleveland will attempt to end their longest losing streak of the season on Wednesday in Denver.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, losers of five straight, are not making their fans at the Q at all confident that the losing streak will end tonight against the Utah Jazz, who are on their second of five straight on the road. Utah leads at the half, 56-41.
Cleveland shot just 34-percent in the first half, despite hitting 38-percent from three-point range. A big reason for the shooting woes was rookie Kyrie Irving, who was 0-for-6. While he did have three first half assists, he was held to just one point.
Utah took care of the ball in the first 24 minutes, turning it over only three times and rebounding it 31 times to Cleveland's 18. Al Jefferson is the Jazz leading scorer with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers and their five game losing streak welcome a Utah Jazz team to Cleveland who have lost six straight away from home on Monday night.
