Heat Check – Crunch Time

Dion Waiters is ready for this.  Are the rest of the Cavaliers?

Note: All records and data are accurate through March 31, 2014.

Team	Season Record	Last Week’s Record
Cleveland Cavaliers	30-45	3-1
What an up and down season for the Cavaliers.  From Kyrie Irving’s injury to the failed Andrew Bynum experiment to the Dion Waiters-trade saga, it’s been a time of turbulence for the city that rocks.  Still, the Cavaliers have quietly found a way to fight back into the playoff race with a strong late-season surge that currently has them just a few games out of 8th place trailing the Knicks and Hawks.The Cavs started off their week with a very tough win against Toronto who, you may remember, is in a heated race for 3rd place (yes, the Toronto Raptors) with the Chicago Bulls.  Although they built an impressive 21-point lead in the third quarter, the Raptors fought back to make it a contest late in the game until Cleveland was finally able to seal the deal thanks in part to a late steal by Luol Deng with just over a second left.  After leaving Cleveland, the Cavs headed North to take on a reeling Pistons team that seems more interested in keeping their lottery pick (top-8 protected) than winning games lately.  However, the Pistons came out looking to steal a win at home and entered the fourth quarter with a 16-point lead and a ton of confidence.  Dion Waiters just wasn’t ready to let that happen, though.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO8-fwBLAR0]After this insane shot, the Cavs were able to head to Brooklyn on a good note and face yet another tough Eastern Conference foe. Riding a three-game win streak, the Cavs were just a bit outmatched against the Nets, one of the hottest teams since the new year began. Deng showed off his versatility with a 20 point, 6 rebound, and 7 assist stat-line and Waiters added 20 himself. On Sunday, the Cavs faced the true test. Indiana came to visit with a four-game streak of losing on the road, and the Cavs fought hard to ensure that streak remained alive. Waiters, who has been phenomenal during this span (20.3 pts, 4.3 reb), posted 9 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cavs stave off a comeback. Jarrett Jack contributed an all-around effort with 11 points, 6 rebound, and 9 assists, and Tristan Thompson had a monster 12-point, 16-rebound double-double. It was a great confidence win for a team desperately in need of wins like these at the end of the season (and possibly heading into the playoffs).
Lottery Spin
It’s hard to say what’s going to happen with this group.  The schedule still includes the Bobcats and Nets (both home games), but relatively easier opponents and winnable games aside from these two.  Given that the Knicks have to play nothing but playoff-bound teams for their remaining stretch, I’d say the Cavs have a pretty good shot to actually sneak into the playoffs.  I’d give it about a 40% shot at this point, but I’m going to make the leap and say they skip the lottery this year.  Too bad the Pacers or Heat will be awaiting them in Round 1.

Team	Season Record	Last Week’s Record
Utah Jazz	23-52	0-4
The Jazz have had a bad year.  OK, that’s an understatement, but losing both stars Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap will do that to you.  Though rising star Gordon Hayward has flashed All-Star potential at times, he’s not enough to carry this team just yet.  One guy to look out for in the future though is Derrick Favors.  He has very quietly put up a solid year, posting 12.9 PPG and 8.8 RPG all while shooting over 51% from the field.  But enough about the future.  Let’s look at the past week.The Jazz started the week against the Memphis Grizzlies, fighting for their playoff lives.  The Jazz did lose 91-87, but that’s not a terrible loss considering only 8 players played for them and the Grizz are a fringe playoff team in the Western Conference.  The second loss was a bit more worrisome as the Jazz took on an Anthony Davis-less Pelicans team after he left the game in the 1st quarter, but ran into Tyreke Evans who posted a brilliant stat-line of 22 points, 5 rebounds, 15 assists (career-high), and 3 steals.  The Jazz took advantage of turnovers very well, scoring 33 points off of ONLY 14 turnovers.  The Pelicans ended up shooting slightly more efficiently, which ultimately helped them prevail in the game.On Sunday, Utah took a 20-point trouncing at the hands of Kevin Durant and Co.  The few positives I took from this game for the Jazz were Enes Kanter’s strong 18-point, 12-rebound double-double and the 46 points in the paint Utah managed against Serge Ibaka and the rest of the Thunder’s frontline (granted, Perkins wasn’t playing).  The rest was simply not good enough to compete.  The Jazz did face redemption with the Knicks in town, though they have been one of the hotter teams within the past month of the season.  Though Utah wasn’t able to stop Carmelo, the league’s second-leading scorer (who made this schedule by the way), Alec Burks impressed off the bench with 17 points and 7 rebounds.  If he can step in and play a bigger role next year for the Jazz, Hayward could move back to small forward and the Jazz would have a bit more talent on their young starting five.
Lottery Spin
The Magic have played themselves into the discussion of the NBA’s worst.  However, even though they have surpassed the Lakers for the bottom of the West, they would still be tied for fourth-worst in the east and are currently in that place for the league’s standings.  The schedule isn’t too friendly for the last few weeks of the season, so I’m not expecting more than two or three more wins.  I could see the Jazz picking 4th in this year’s draft and taking a serious look at Dante Exum (as well as Marcus Smart possibly).

By Jon Elliott
Follow @TheJontlet