Much to the delight of both organizations, the Cleveland Cavaliers did enough to pull out the 122-113 win over the tanking Utah Jazz to start their brief three-game road trip.

This game was much closer than it should’ve been in the fourth quarter. The Jazz were without six rotation players and came into this game losers of their last five and having dropped nine of their last 10.

Meanwhile, the Cavs rested two key rotation players, Max Strus and Jarrett Allen, in preparation for tomorrow’s game with the Los Angeles Lakers. That, combined with being without Dean Wade (ankle) and Jaylon Tyson (toe), left the Cavs thin on bench reserves. However, that itself doesn’t explain why this game was close late.

Cleveland simply couldn’t put the game away despite having several chances to do so early. They opened the second quarter on a 13-1 run, which allowed them to stretch their lead to 14, but they didn’t keep their foot on the gas, allowing the Jazz back into the game before the break.

This happened once again in the third quarter. The Cavs pushed the lead to 15 midway through the third, but then allowed the Jazz to claw back. They tied things up three-and-a-half minutes into the fourth and even took a brief two-point lead with five minutes left in the contest.

The Cavaliers’ starters were able to reassert control of the game from there. The offense executed well down the stretch thanks to a strong fourth quarter from Evan Mobley.

As was the case all game, the Jazz didn’t have an answer for Mobley inside. He did a good job of attacking in space, beating mismatches, and finishing lobs inside. This included putting the Jazz away with an and-one layup, an alley-oop from Sam Merrill, and an and-one pick-and-roll with James Harden on three-straight possessions, which started with four minutes to play in the fourth quarter. This took it from a three-point advantage to an 11-point one to help seal the game.

Mobley scored 10 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. On the night, he finished with 17 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and a steal on 15-21 shooting. This led to him leading the team in plus/minus at +21.

Not to be outdone, Donovan Mitchell also supplied 34 points. He did so on 10-18 shooting with five assists and a steal.

Harden once again showed his skill in manipulating the defense. He seemingly created open shots for his teammates every time down the court. This resulted in him racking up 14 assists for the second game in a row. He also had 13 points on 4-9 shooting to go along with six rebounds.

This game shouldn’t have been close based on how well the Cavs’ three best players performed. But, you’d also expect the team to shoot better than 6-32 (18.8%) from three.

Meanwhile, the Jazz were outclassed for most of the game, but their hot shooting kept them alive. They went 15-29 (51.7%) from beyond the arc. Allowing opponents to get hot from beyond the arc continues to be an issue for the Cavs.

The Jazz were led by 26 points from Cody Williams. Kyle Filipowski had 20 points and 10 rebounds on 7-12 shooting.

The Cavaliers will be back in action on Tuesday when they take on Luka Doncic and the Lakers. Tip-off is at 10:30 PM Eastern.