The Jazz headed home late Saturday night, a dreary 1-4 road trip in their rearview mirror.
In the final game of its week-long journey, Utah opened a 10-point lead early in the second half at Cleveland. After the Cavaliers rallied, the Jazz were still within two (86-84) with just over eight minutes left. But LeBron James fueled an 11-0 run that broke the game open. Just as in earlier losses at New York, Washington and Charlotte, the Jazz were outplayed in the fourth quarter.
"When everybody beats you in the fourth quarter, something's wrong with your concentration and your ability to respond and play tough basketball," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "That's what a lot of teams do. They win games in the fourth quarter because they're smart and they know what they're doing and they don't make mistakes. Anybody can play for 46 minutes. I've always said that. You have to be a horse to play the last two."
Said Carlos Boozer: "That seems to be our thing right now. We can't finish on the road."
Asked if he felt frustrated with the Jazz's 1-4 trip, Boozer said, "That's not even the word. I know we have people out, but I don't want to use any excuses. We had chances to win every game on this road trip and didn't.
"Obviously, we need to get healthy. But we also need to find out what this team is made of because, right now, we're missing whatever we're supposed to have to finish out games."
CAVALIERS 105, JAZZ 93: LeBron James scored 16 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, and former Jazz second-round draft pick Mo Williams added 20 as Cleveland beat Utah for the eighth time in the last 11 meetings. The Cavs shot 51.3 percent in the second half, when the Jazz were outscored 59-40.
