CLEVELAND — Warmups were over, the starting lineups had been introduced, the national anthem had been sung and all that was left to do was tip the ball off to start Monday night’s game between the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers.
But as soon as the lights came back on, a problem was noticed at the basket the Jazz had been warming up on — the rim was just a tad cattywampus.
After several attempts to level it out, the operations crew had to bring in a whole new stanchion. Then after 30 minutes of rectifying the problem, the players had a five-minute warmup before the game finally started, 35 minutes late.
“It was weird. We were all just sitting around, and they came over before they put the goal up, saying, like, ‘It’ll be like 7 to 10 minutes.’ It was not 7 to 10 minutes, but Cleveland had to deal with the same thing, so it’s not like there was any disadvantage or advantage for our team, and we’ve just got to adapt,” Jazz center Walker Kessler said.
“I was more so thinking about the flight home at that point and how late we were gonna get back, but once the game started, didn’t even think (about) it.”
Despite the delay, fans got their money’s worth on Monday night. In the last seven Cavaliers wins, they’ve blown out their opponents, winning by an average of 20.8 points.
Since the Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA, many believed Monday would end up being another easy one for the Cleveland squad, but the scrappy Jazz put up enough of a fight to make things interesting.
It was still a one-possession game with 1:35 left to play, the Jazz having withstood and come back from every run the Cavs made.
“I’m really proud of the team,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “That’s a really good basketball team that we just played on the road. I think that the competitiveness, the togetherness that our group is showing has risen a ton in the last two weeks, and that’s obviously very important to me and to our staff.
“I think it sets the it sets the environment up for real improvement to happen, and to play in a game like that, I think is incredible for our entire group.”
For the Jazz, Kessler had an incredible night with some tough defensive coverages. He finished the game with nine points and 16 rebounds, including eight offensive boards that helped the Jazz get some second-chance opportunities.
The trio of Jazz players that formerly played for the Cavaliers — Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson — led the Jazz offensively, combining for 77 points on the night while the entire Jazz team shot 43.2% from 3-point range.
On the Cavaliers’ side, Donovan Mitchell (22 points), Darius Garland (23), Evan Mobley (22) and former Utah State star Sam Merrill (20) combined for 87 points and the Cavs were able to outlast the Jazz.
Hardy and the Jazz were happy to have a close game against one of the best teams in the league, which helps to boost morale and prove to the players that they are capable of competing at a high level, but the Jazz weren’t the only ones feeling grateful to have a close game.
Cleveland has lofty goals for this season and beyond and they know that they aren’t going to be able to just blow teams out once the postseason rolls around, so any time they can play crunch time minutes when the game is on the line is good for their own team building.
“It just helps us find ways to execute late game,” Mitchell said. “Winning by double digits is nice and shows we’re taking care of business, but when you have these moments, these are fun.
“It’s like, ‘Alright, cool, how do we execute? How do we find different things, strategize? ... Thinking the game, talking the game out, those are the reps that I find the most exciting and that’s ultimately what’s going to help us continue to build.”
The Jazz will head home, arriving in Salt Lake City in the wee hours of the morning on Christmas Eve before leaving Christmas night to head to Portland, where they’ll play on Thursday.