The Cleveland Cavaliers won again on Tuesday night against the Jazz and the game saw the return of JR Smith from an injury for LeBron James. James, Mo Williams and Kevin Love all had strong games for the Cavs, who improved to 7-1 on the season despite playing without Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert.
The Cavaliers had to make a comeback in the game to win and James led the way with 31 points, while Mo Williams had 29 points to help get the 118-114 win. The Cavaliers have won seven straight games since losing the opening night matchup with the Bulls and coming up the team has the Knicks and the Bucks on the schedule. The Cavs were down nine at one point in the fourth quarter and James helped get the lead back with 14 points in the final frame.
Kevin Love had 22 points in the game and he has continued to be a focal point for the Cavaliers offense this season. Love had a slight injury scare after falling on his leg while going for a dunk, but he was able to stay in the game. James came into the game after dealing with a bruised quad against the Sixers on Friday, but he was able to play on Friday without and issues and he was not hampered on Tuesday.
JR Smith returned for the Cavaliers on Tuesday against the Jazz and he played 22 minutes and scored seven points with one rebound and three assists. Smith was out the last three games with a knee injury and his return put Richard Jefferson on the bench. Smith came into the game averaging 4.8 points per game in four games while shooting 27 percent from the floor. The Cavs offense was very strong on Tuesday, as they put up over 115 points against a Jazz team that had been giving up less than 90 points per game.
The Cavs have been playing without Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving this season and both players could be returning over the next couple months. Shumpert is coming back from wrist surgery and he has had his cast off for about a month, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Shumpert reportedly is "targeting" a January return for the Cavs, while Irving may be able to return sooner. Irving said to ESPN that he has a return date in mind, but that he is keeping it to himself "for a little bit."
Irving has not had any return date set for him after coming back from knee surgery, but initial reports had December or January as options. The Cavaliers are likely going to be cautious with Irving and the strong start through the first eight games shows there is no reason to rush him back. Williams and Matthew Dellavedova have played well while Irving has been out and the team needs him healthy for the playoffs more than anything else anyway.
