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 Hood lights a fire under the Utah Jazz offense every time he
shoots these days. That was certainly the case in a 94-85 victory
over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. The second-year guard
rattled off 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting -- which included four
3-pointers.
Hood provided a huge lift for Utah in the absence of leading scorer
Gordon Hayward, who missed the game due to plantar fasciitis.
"My teammates were telling me to be aggressive," Hood said. "I got
going early, and stuff started to open up."
Shelvin Mack added 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while
Derrick Favors chipped in 19 points and Trey Lyles added 12 points
for the Jazz (32-35). Utah shot 44.4 percent (12-for-27) from the
perimeter to help secure its third consecutive victory and keep pace
with Dallas and Houston in the battle for the eighth seed in the
Western Conference playoffs.
The Mavericks and Rockets, both 34-33, are each two games ahead of
the Jazz.
 LeBron James scored 23 points and collected 12 rebounds, notching
his 23rd double-double of the season to lead Cleveland. Kyrie Irving
chipped in 15 points and Kevin Love added 12 point.
Cleveland (47-19) had won three straight and six of seven before
falling to the Jazz. The Cavaliers were doomed by poor perimeter
shooting, connecting on just 23.8 percent of their 3-pointers, 10 of
42.
"We had our chance," James said. "We definitely settled for the
outside shot too much tonight and didn't get into the paint. They
did a great job of capitalizing on our mistakes."
Cleveland appeared primed to run away from the Jazz early in the
first quarter, racing out to an 11-4 lead on an alley-oop dunk from
James.
Utah quickly fought back. Mack drilled a 3-pointer and Rudy Gobert
followed with a three-point play to spark a 13-2 run. Favors and
Hood capped the run with another pair of back-to-back baskets to put
the Jazz up 19-15.
Utah eventually built up a five-point lead in the quarter after Raul
Neto drilled a 3-pointer to make it 26-21. The Cavs rallied early in
the second quarter and briefly went ahead 35-34 when Irving drove
for a layup. Hood countered with a pair of jumpers to help put the
Jazz back up 40-35.
He was just getting warmed up. Hood tacked on a 3-pointer and fed
Mack in the corner for another 3-pointer to give Utah a 48-42 lead
with 29.9 seconds left before halftime. His third 3-pointer pushed
the Jazz's advantage to 53-44 early in the third quarter.
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"I really think Rodney did what Rodney does," Jazz coach Quin Snyder
said. "I'm not sure he was aware of it. He didn't hunt shots. He was
really aggressive when he had a window."
Utah led 61-52 after Hood's fourth 3-pointer when the Cavaliers
finally mounted a comeback. Cleveland used a 14-3 run -- capped by
back-to-back 3-pointers from Channing Frye and James -- to jump back
in front 66-64 late in the third quarter.
It didn't last long. Lyles took over in the fourth quarter. He
drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to put Utah ahead again. It sparked
a 16-2 run that helped the Jazz pull. Joe Ingles capped the run with
another 3-pointer, giving Utah an 86-73 lead with 4:41 left.
Lyles scored 10 points in the quarter before being ejected for
committing a flagrant foul against Frye with 3:57 remaining. Frye
also was tossed after being assessed his second technical.
"Trey Lyles was big -- hitting threes, getting to the basket," Hood
said. "He created some separation. We're a really good defensive
team, so we got some stops when we needed them. It was big for us."
Making a fourth-quarter comeback proved impossible for Cleveland
because it could not crack Utah's defense. The Jazz forced the Cavs
to the perimeter, and that doomed Cleveland on a night when shots
didn't fall.
It also thwarted the Cavaliers' chance of going 4-0 on their Western
road trip.
"It leaves a bad taste in your mouth, naturally," Love said. "It's
bittersweet. We wanted to go 4-0, but three out of four on a road
trip where we played two back-to-backs is not bad. We seek
perfection. We always want to be better."
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