3 takeaways from the Jazz's 117-91 win over the Cavs

Despite struggling with the league-worst Cavaliers for two-plus quarters, the Jazz ultimately ran away with a 117-91 victory over Cleveland Friday night.

Donovan Mitchell led the way with a game-high 18 points. Jae Crowder added 16 points for Utah, which had eight players finish in double figures.

Cleveland was led in defeat by former Jazzman Alec Burks, who finished with 17 points.

Here are three takeaways from the Jazz's victory over the lowly Cavaliers

All around excellence

13 Jazzmen entered the game against the Cavaliers — everyone who played saw at least three minutes of game action — and nearly all made a positive contribution.

In addition to eight double-figure scorers (Mitchell, Crowder, Ricky Rubio, Joe Ingles, Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum, Derrick Favors, and Kyle Korver), six players finished with at least five rebounds, led by Ingles (9). Four Jazz players recorded five or more assists as well, led by Exum (7) and Gobert and Favors each recorded at least three blocks.

Dominant defense

After a less than stellar first half defensively, Cleveland scored 29 points in the second quarter alone, Utah buckled down in the second half and held the hosts to only 42 second-half points.

That included a 20 point fourth quarter by the Cavs, but more importantly a 22-point third quarter in which Utah outscored Cleveland by 11 points. Cleveland ultimately shot just 39.5 percent from the field, that despite a 52.4 percent night from three (11-21).

40-50-90 club

The Jazz had an elite shooting performance Friday, even if they barely missed out on joining the 40-50-90 club as a team.

The group connected on 42 of 82 shot attempts, good for 51.2 percent from the field. 14 of the makes came from behind the arc, on 35 attempts, which was good for a 40 percent shooting percentage. Utah also made 19 of 22 free throw attempts, a percentage of 86.4.

No Jazz player shot better than Gobert. The center hit all four of his shot attempts from the field — Gobert finished with 12 points — and finished 4 for 4 at the charity stripe.

Next 3

Saturday, January 5, at Detroit (17-19), 5 p.m. MDT

Monday, January 7, at Milwaukee (27-10), 6 p.m. MDT

Wednesday, January 9, vs. Orlando (17-21), 7 p.m. MDT

from Deseret News http://bit.ly/2H5GhO2