The Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers are playing live on the NBA schedule on Wednesday night and the matchup from Quicken Loans Arena is a good chance for the Cavs to keep things going, as they have played well since the return of LeBron James and now they matchup with the Jazz at 7 pm ET from Ohio as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love take the floor.
James has helped turn things around for the Cavaliers, as they have been up and down all season and now they are playing with some consistency. James' return helped the team win against the Bulls on Monday and that was a huge confidence builder, as many see that as an eastern conference finals preview. The Bulls looked like runaway winners of the division, but they have lost six of eight and the Cavs may see an opening.
The Cavaliers are just 22-20, but they can only win one at a time and right now they are moving in the right direction, having won all the games since James returned. The Cavaliers come into the game after a big win over the Bulls, taking things by 14 points and they saw James lead the way with 26 points. The Cavaliers made some moves to get better, adding JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov and that should make the roster stronger heading down the second half of the season.
The team defense has been the biggest concern and they have started to look better, but they have a ways to go on that end of the floor. The Jazz come in allowing 98 points per game and they rank 25th in scoring and they come in after a bad loss to the Spurs. The team plays against the Cavaliers and then has a matchup with the Bucks and they are 14-27 this season.
Cleveland has looked much better since a 1-9 stretch and that should help get the team back in the mix closer to the top of the east. Love was back in action after missing a game and Irving had 18 points and 12 assists against the Bulls. The win against the Bulls could be a landmark win for this team, as that could be the victory that finally snaps things into focus after the slow start.
Irving has stepped up with James out and now that he has returned, Irving has played well and James comes in averaging nearly 30 points in his career against the Jazz. Utah won over the Cavs in a last second game with a jump shot from Gordon Hayward and now the team can get some revenge with another matchup here.
Check here for the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers live coverage.
