3 Ugly Takeaways From Jazz's Unprepared Performance in Cavs Loss

Donovant Mitchell's 'revenge' game? Hold that thought.

The well-hyped contest between the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers turned out to be an absolute dud as both teams delivered preseason-worthy performances. If you happened to be caught in rush-hour traffic or were finalizing last-minute Christmas shopping prior to the tip-off of this game, be grateful. 

This contest was as stale as 90-day-old bread. The media set the table for an entertaining affair, but you could see early in the first quarter that disappointment would be the order of the day.

The Jazz seemed to make a concerted effort to get Lauri Markkanen rolling against his former team, which worked initially. Cleveland did nothing except get in Donovan Mitchell's way, which might not bode well when he becomes a free agent in the future.

What did we really learn from Utah's 122-99 loss to Cleveland? Let's highlight my key takeaways between the Jazz and Cavs.

Woefully Unprepared

All of the Jazz starters registered - (minus) game ratings. In fact, each player that took the court for the Jazz registered a - game rating except Rudy Gay, who registered a 0 rating. 

How can a game of this magnitude yield the following returns?

• Lauri Markkanen: -21
• Jordan Clarkson: -17
• Jarred Vanderbilt: -12
• Mike Conley: -10 
• Walker Kessler: -9 

This pattern of unpreparedness trickled down to Utah's reserves, and the negative game scripts controlled the outcome of this game. The next time the Jazz face the Cavs, fans won't expect much in terms of intensity.

Mitchell Gets Road-Blocked

Mitchell was prevented from excelling on the court against his former team. He played less than 23 minutes as Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff yanked him from the game regularly. 

In addition to being pulled from the game, Mitchell's teammates did not apply the silent players rule of allowing a former player to devour his previous team on his new home court. Instead, Cavs center Jarret Allen thought he was playing for the Harlem Globetrotters with an 'all eyes on me mentality.'

Cavs point guard Darius Garland did little to keep Mitchell engaged, while reserve forward Cedi Osman joined in on the freezing of Mitchell by taking 10 shots in 24 minutes of play, and forward Kevin Love played over 24 minutes and was his usual himself. Mitchell's teammates did not allow him the space needed against the Jazz and thought they were in their custom deluxe packages. 

Moves like these could spell the beginning of the end for Coach Bickerstaff as he also has to explain why his staff did not get more production from Markkanen.

A Quick Turnaround, Thankfully

The Jazz will look to turn things around against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night. The NBA schedule can erase good and bad memories swiftly with the volume and pace of games. Let's hope for a much better brand of basketball in Detroit.

Bottom Line

With so much attention surrounding this Jazz-Cavs game, I expected a much different outcome. However, with the poor play of Utah's starting lineup, along with Bickerstaff's custom deluxe monitoring package, this game was going to lack dynamite due to personal egos and a me-first attitude.

The final scoreboard informs the Jazz on how they performed, and the Cavs are thinking they took care of their business. The takeaway for both teams is that it's not that you win or lose; sometimes, it's about how you win or lose.

The Jazz were not ready for the moment and flat-out lost. The Cavs won, but the overall product of freezing out Mitchell will not work in Cleveland's favor when he becomes a free agent. This game was far from eye candy.

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