Utah Jazz make losers out of Alec Burks, Rodney Hood

It wasn’t quite a revenge game, but Alec Burks and Rodney Hood were definitely looking to steal a win from the Utah Jazz. Ultimately, they were unsuccessful.

Before he and Alec Burks took the court against their former squad in the Utah Jazz on Friday, Rodney Hood wasn’t interested in getting revenge on the club that dealt them both to Cleveland. That said, there was definitely a bit of extra motivation in play. “I want to bust they ass,” he mused with the same breath used to call them family.

By night’s end, Burks and Hood were the busted ones.

After a slow start at the Q, the Jazz band played a funeral dirge for their former guys, overcoming a ho-hum first half to capture a 117-91 win over the Cavaliers.

Although neither former Jazzman lived up to their threat of putting Rudy Gobert on a poster, each accredited themselves nicely in their first game against the team that drafted them. Burks paced the Cavs with 17 points in 30 minutes off the bench and hit three triples. Hood, meanwhile, scored 12 points (all in the first half) and hit two triples of his own.

Speaking of Gobert, his old teammates weren’t the only ones he managed to stymie at the hoop. The 2018 NBA Defensive Player of the Year blocked five shots in the game and the Jazz D as a whole held Cleveland to just 39 percent from the field, thanks in large part to his efforts.

Thanks to a big effort in quarters three and four, the game also ended as one of Utah’s better offensive performances. The Jazz hit over 51 percent from the floor, 40 percent from distance on 14 made 3-pointers and 86 percent from the charity stripe. They also outscored the Cavs by 10 in paint.

While a lot of the discussion ahead of the game was centered on Burks and Hood, we also saw Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver make their first returns to Cleveland. Both players did their thing, but Crowder was really a beast for the Jazz. The big man scored 16 points on just nine field goal attempts and added five boards and a steal.

Not a bad way to follow up a career night, if you ask me. All the better that his side won this time.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1081389022398664704

Ricky Rubio had a nice bounce-back game for the Jazz — is it just me, or have I said that a couple of times recently? In any event, after hitting just 7-of-27 from the floor over his last two games, Rubio scored 15 points on an acceptable 6-of-13 shooting, throwing five dimes and grabbing four boards to boot.

It’s great that he’s able to rebound from his down nights, but the fact that those nights continue to come in bunches is still a real concern.

All told, eight Jazz players hit double figures, led by Donovan Mitchell‘s 18 points.

With the win, the Jazz improved to 19-20 on the year. They’ll continue their Eastern Conference road swing with a quick turnaround against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.