Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Walker Kessler's defensive efforts and rebounding kept the Jazz competitive against the Cavaliers.
- Despite the Jazz's strong performance, Cleveland secured a 124-113 victory with Donovan Mitchell's late-game contributions.
- Coach Hardy praised the Jazz's competitiveness and sees potential for future improvement.
CLEVELAND — As Walker Kessler put it, he got a little "jump happy."
With 3:14 remaining in a one-possession game, Kessler was isolated on Darius Garland. The Cleveland guard drove to his right and as he approached the rim, Kessler jumped to get in position for a block. Garland, though, wasn't there; instead, Garland had stopped, spun and hit a turnaround fadeaway.
That was one of the winning plays the Cavaliers made down the stretch as they pulled away late for a 124-113 win over the Jazz Monday in Cleveland.
"I liked the challenge," Kessler said about guarding the Cavs guards. "It's a lot of fun. So I'm happy that coach and the staff are giving me the opportunity to show that I can guard one through five."
That late play was loud, but for the most part on Monday, Kessler showed how big of an impact he can have. He had 9 points, 16 rebounds (eight of which were offensive boards), three assists and three blocks.
What led to all those offensive rebounds?
"I had a lot of time pregame to build it up," he said with a smile.
The game was postponed for nearly 40 minutes after one of the rims was bent during pre-game warmups. A new standard had to be brought out before the contest could begin.
More seriously: "I pride myself on playing hard and competing and tonight, the ball went my way. Sometimes it doesn't, but tonight it did."
Hardy came away impressed with his center's effort. With how Cleveland plays defense, the Jazz wanted to produce a lot of catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. They did just that — going 19-for-44 from deep —but such a game plan can often leave a big man unengaged. Kessler, though, was anything but that.
"He generated a lot of good stuff for us, and I thought that his relentless pursuit of the glass, especially on the offensive end, did a lot to pick up the energy for our team," Hardy said.
That energy led to a surprisingly competitive game.
The Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA (now 26-4); the Utah Jazz have one of the worst (7-21) — and were on the fourth game of a long road trip that had taken them from coast to coast.
So, naturally, with 4:39 remaining it the game it was a 1-point game.
Jordan Clarkson had 27 points, Lauri Markkanen added 26 points and Collin Sexton finished with 24 to lead the Jazz's upset bid.
"The competitiveness, the togetherness that our group is showing has risen a ton in the last two weeks," Hardy said. "I think it sets the environment up for real improvement to happen."
One player who has shown that is Kessler. Even without getting a lot of touches, Kessler helped keep the Jazz in the game. His physicality on the offensive boards got the Jazz into the bonus early and helped generate extra 3-point looks.
"Walker has gotten so much better," Hardy said. "His ability to impact winning without scoring a lot of points continues to grow."
The growth hasn't been linear. Kessler had a tough second season in the league that featured plenty of tough games and hard coaching. There have been ups and downs and more than a few tough conversations with his coaches, but he's starting to consistently show how much he can impact winning.
Though, he'd like a few trips to the line back. In the final four minutes, Kessler went 1-of-6 from the free-throw line.
"I'm a better free throw shooter than that," he said.
He wasn't the only one to have some late-game hiccups, though.
Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell had 22 points and seven assists against his former team. That wasn't the most gaudy stat line, but his close to the game showed what the Jazz have been missing since the team traded him in 2022.
Mitchell scored 6 points in the final minutes after Utah had cut a 17-point lead down to 1. He hit a short jumper to push it back up to 3 points. Later, he made a slick move around Clarkson to push Cleveland's lead to 5 and then he drew a foul on Sexton after the Jazz had got within a single possession.
As for the Jazz, well, they were plagued by missed free throws, poor defensive plays and a dagger of a turnover by Clarkson.
And the team's best player — Markkanen — didn't have a shot attempt in the closing four minutes. Still, all things considered, Hardy left the court proud of his team.
"I'm the first person to tell them when I think they haven't met their own standard. And I think that tonight we did and we came up short," Hardy said. "If we play that hard and we move the ball like that, there's a lot of good things coming. So I'm proud of the team."
