The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz at Cleveland Cavaliers: Keys to the Game

By Jared Woodcox

Jan 10, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) defends against Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5) during the second half at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz won 100-92. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) defends against Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5) during the second half at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz won 100-92. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 10, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (L) and guard Iman Shumpert (4) and forward Kevin Love (R) talk with referre John Goble (30) during the first half against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz won 100-92. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (L) and guard Iman Shumpert (4) and forward Kevin Love (R) talk with referre John Goble (30) during the first half against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz won 100-92. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /

Prediction – Cavaliers 102, Jazz 96

I’m tempted to put my faith in the superior play the Jazz have displayed in their recent wins and predict yet another huge Utah win. However, while that’s certainly not an outlandish possibility especially given how well they’ve played of late, I have a feeling that expecting the Jazz to win this one might be a bit much.

They’re on a roll, to be sure, and Cleveland has slid somewhat in recent games, but I’m certain that LeBron and Co. are aware of the strides that the Jazz are making and that the Cavs will have a desire to assert their dominance against a team that’s trying to become a rising force in the league.

Combine that with the fact that Cleveland’s home record is absolutely phenomenal and that Utah could very well be dealing with some fatigue after playing last night and it’s not hard at all to see how the Jazz fall short in this one.

Nevertheless, given Utah’s recent play and how well they looked the last time against the Cavs, I’m thinking that this will be a hard-fought bout and that Utah will only slightly falter, falling by a meager 102-96 margin when all is said is done.

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Fortunately for the Jazz, their final two opponents on the road trip, the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers, are unsurprisingly less daunting than the Cavs and have both faced some significant struggles of late.

Therefore, regardless of what the end result is of the game tonight, given that Utah got things started out so well last night against Detroit, they should most certainly have an excellent chance of coming away with a winning record on this road trip.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com

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