Jazz top Cavs to spoil Lebron James’s birthday celebrations

LOS ANGELES, USA – LeBron James wanted a win in Salt Lake City for his 33rd birthday on Saturday, December 31, but the Utah Jazz had other ideas.

Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points to help the Jazz beat James’s Cleveland Cavaliers, 104-101.

Derrick Favors added 19 points and Ricky Rubio chipped in 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists as the Jazz notched their 4th straight home win against Cleveland.

James himself has now lost 7 straight on the Jazz’s home court – a skid that stretches back to his time with the Miami Heat.

Saying before the game that he “needed” a win in Utah, James again left disappointed despite scoring 29 points. He handed out 6 assists and his 8 rebounds saw him eclipse 8,000 rebounds for his career.

Jeff Green scored 22 points and Kevin Love added 20 with 10 rebounds for the Cavs, who lost for the 4th time in 5 games.

Cleveland led for most of the first half, but the Jazz responded in the 3rd quarter, opening the second half with a 23-3 scoring run to seize a 71-56 lead.

Favors launched the run with a brace of baskets, and two straight baskets from Joe Ingles gave the Jazz their first double-digit lead.

Cleveland, meanwhile, connected on just 4 of their 19 shots from the field in the 3rd quarter – missing 13 of their first 14 before Dwyane Wade drained back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the deficit to 73-67.

The Cavs managed to trim the deficit to one point 3 times in the 4th quarter – the final time with 1:35 to play on a 3-pointer from Love.

After Wade then missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer, a driving layup by Mitchell and a pair of free throws from Thabo Sefolosha expanded Utah’s lead to 5 with 24 seconds left and the Cavs wouldn’t get the deficit below 3 points from there.

The defeat saw Cleveland finish 0-3 on a road trip that also included a marquee clash with Golden State and a stop in Sacramento. – Rappler.com