Nov 5, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) defends against Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward (20) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 102-100. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
The last time LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers played the Utah Jazz they ran headlong into Gordon Hayward. Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, beat writer for the Cavs, told 1280/97.5 The Zone today that LeBron will target Gordon Hayward tonight.
Hayward put on several pounds of muscle in the last offseason while James dumped some weight, worried about the long-term implications of too many L-Bs. The result of the first meeting of the season between the two NBA heavyweights was Hayward hitting a game-winning buzzer beater after an epic late-game battle.
Hayward clowned on LeBron in the game a bit, not only hitting the game-winner but also defending him well down the stretch and getting a chase-down block on him — a move LeBron made famous. The young Jazz stud took to his blog not long after to say,
"Naturally, you get up more for games when you’re going against the best players, especially at your position. You want to prove that you can compete with a guy like LeBron James.I felt like I held my own for the most part, and I tried to make everything he wanted to do difficult…there were times when I had to defend him one-on-one, and I think I did a pretty good job. There was an inbounds play late in the game where he tried to take me one-on-one. Right before that, one of our assistant coaches had pulled me aside and said, “He’s going to come right at you.”I remember thinking right at that moment, “This is it. This is what I’ve been working for. I need to have a big time stop.” I was able to do that.When you get a stop like that, it’s almost the same type of feeling as when you hit a game-winner. It’s you versus him, one-on-one on that possession, and if you’re able to get a stop, it’s a victory in itself."
On the chase-down:
"They’re putting so much effort into getting around the lead defender that they don’t expect you. I was able to read it the whole way.I love making that play. It might be my favorite play out of any I do because it’s a complete momentum shift. A lot of times, it ends up with points on the other end, so it’s a four-point swing. And any time you get a chase-down block, especially at home, the crowd reacts, and you get a big burst of adrenaline.He can’t bully me as much as he used to, and I’m able to stand my ground against him. That’s going to be huge against a lot of the bigger threes that I’ll be playing since I’ve been playing a little bit more small forward this year.–GordonHayward20.com"
Asked about it, James’ response was,
"“I don’t believe (remember) me ever pushing him around in the past,” James said Wednesday, when asked for a reaction to Hayward’s comments. “I don’t use a one-on-one matchup against anyone. I play the team game, I just try to win ball games.“It’s not about me and Gordon Hayward. If it made him feel better by saying that, good for him, but I don’t really care about that stuff.”–Cleveland.com"
Despite this assertion, Haynes believes LeBron will target Gordon Hayward in Cleveland this evening.
"I wanna see Gordon Hayward matched up on LeBron tonight.But at the same time knowing LeBron, I know for a FACT that he’s gonna go at Gordon. I know for a fact that he’s gonna go at him.These last three games since he’s come back…he’s playing like the old 25 year old LeBron. I think he wants to make sure that he still instills fear in these players like he did before. I think Gordon Hayward’s gonna have his hands full.I wanna see how [Hayward] responds to it. This is what it’s about, accepting these challenges.–Jake and Tony with Chris B. Haynes, 1280/97.5 The Zone"
Professionals everywhere don’t like to be disrespected, and even if they try to play it off, you know it gets in the ear and head at least a little. NBA players in particular take a lot of pride in their game, so when someone beats them down they don’t soon forget it.
It should make for an interesting evening of basketball.
The Jazz have beaten LeBron James teams, including the Miami Heat, five of the last eight meetings since Gordon Hayward entered the NBA, drafted by Utah in 2010.
The flu bug is making it’s way through the Cavs’ locker room, including biting James and Kyrie Irving.