January 25th, 2009 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
Coming into Saturday night in Utah vs the Jazz, the Cavs had visions of a 3-1 west coast trip, and following their 102-97 victory, the team got what they wanted. After falling to the Lakers in the first game of the trip last Monday, the team was able to reel off wins vs the Trail Blazers, Warriors and now Jazz to go home on a very happy note as they get set for a home game vs the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
LeBron James continued to show the folks out west why he should have major consideration for this years MVP award. One night after hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer vs the Warriors, James had another solid game, going for 33 points and 14 rebounds and 9 assists. Mo Williams showed why he should be an All-Star for the East, as he hit for 25 points. Anderson Varejao had 14, and Sasha Pavlovic added 13.
Paul Millsap led the Jazz with 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Deron Williams had 17 points and 16 assists, but it was not enough for Utah, which fell to 25-19 with the setback. They also lost for just the 5th time at the Delta Center. They were 17-4 entering the game at home.
The Cavs started fast right away, jumping out to a 33-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. The game started 14-10 Cavs, but then they went on a run with Varejao hitting two shots, and James hitting for 15 points in the quarter. Utah would not go away quietly, as they came right back with a big second quarter, led by Williams and Millsap to outscore the Cavs 26-14 to take a 49-47 lead at the half.
The third quarter was much like the first for Cleveland, as Williams hit back-to-back threes to make it 65-59, and then a James dunk gave the Cavs a 70-62 lead with 4:19 to go in the period. LeBron had 29 points at the end of the quarter as the Cavs led after three by eight at 81-73.
The Jazz went up 85-83 in the fourth at the 8:23 mark, but the Cavs bounced back, as Williams hit another three to make it 86-85 with 8:02 to play. The teams played back and forth till Williams hit a big layup with 2:41 left to make it 93-91 Cavs. A Pavlovic slam at it 96-91 with 2:19 left, and then LeBron hit an alley-oop dunk to make it 98-95 with 1:30 left.
The Cavs defense stepped up in the last 90 seconds, and they were able to make their free throws to close out their 34th win of the season against just 8 losses. Tuesday night the team will have some home cooking after a week on the road vs the Kings, who come in an awful 10-33.
