The Cleveland Cavaliers' embarrassing 123-112 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday was easily one of their worst performances of the season. The funny part is you could predict this one coming from a mile away. Kenny Atkinson has been begging his team for effort all year. They came up short — again.
After getting beat up early, the Cavaliers pushed their way back into the game during the second quarter, outscoring the Jazz 40-20. The brief moment of hope was wasted and erased when Cleveland was outscored 69-50 in the second half.
Games like that one easily explain why Atkinson has been bold enough to try starting lineups like the one seen against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan.