1st Quarter Report
Only three more quarters stand between the Cavaliers and the win they were favored to collect coming into this evening. They have jumped out to a quick 53-52 lead against the Jazz.
The Cavaliers entered the match having won four straight and they’re just three quarters away from another. Will they make it five, or will the Jazz step up and spoil it? We’ll know soon.
Who’s Playing
Utah Jazz @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Current Records: Utah 7-20, Cleveland 25-4
How To Watch
- When: Monday, December 23, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
- Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse — Cleveland, Ohio
- TV: FanDuel SN – Ohio
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $43.84
What to Know
Jazz fans better hope the squad plays one heck of a game on Monday as the odds are decidedly against them. Their road trip will continue as they head out to face the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:00 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Jazz might want some stickum for this one as the team gave up 18 turnovers on Saturday.
The Jazz are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 220.5, but even that wound up being too high. They came out on top against the Nets by a score of 105-94.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They put the hurt on Philadelphia with a sharp 126-99 victory. Cleveland has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matches by 19 points or more this season.
The Cavaliers can attribute much of their success to Evan Mobley, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Darius Garland, who went 6 for 7 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points plus five rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Garland a new career-high in three-point shooting accuracy (85.7%).
The Cavaliers were working as a unit and finished the game with 31 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they’ve now posted at least 25 assists in eight consecutive contests.
Utah’s win bumped their record up to 7-20. As for Cleveland, their victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 25-4.
Both pleased both fans and bettors in their last games by winning and covering the spread. Looking ahead, the Cavaliers are probably looking forward to this one considering their 14 advantage in the spread. This contest will be Utah’s 20th straight as the underdogs (so far over this stretch they are 9-10 against the spread).
The Jazz ended up a good deal behind the Cavaliers when the teams last played back in April, losing 129-113. Can the Jazz avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Odds
Cleveland is a big 14-point favorite against Utah, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 14-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 232.5 points.
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Series History
Utah has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Cleveland.
- Apr 02, 2024 – Cleveland 129 vs. Utah 113
- Dec 20, 2023 – Cleveland 124 vs. Utah 116
- Jan 10, 2023 – Utah 116 vs. Cleveland 114
- Dec 19, 2022 – Cleveland 122 vs. Utah 99
- Jan 12, 2022 – Cleveland 111 vs. Utah 91
- Dec 05, 2021 – Utah 109 vs. Cleveland 108
- Mar 29, 2021 – Utah 114 vs. Cleveland 75
- Jan 12, 2021 – Utah 117 vs. Cleveland 87
- Mar 02, 2020 – Utah 126 vs. Cleveland 113
- Jan 18, 2019 – Utah 115 vs. Cleveland 99
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