Cavs await Korver's arrival heading into game at Utah
SALT LAKE CITY -- When will Kyle Korver suit up for Cleveland?
That's a genuine question facing the Cavaliers at the moment. Cleveland (28-8) acquired the veteran shooting guard in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks last week, sending Mike Dunleavy, Mo Williams, a protected first-round pick and cash considerations to the Hawks in exchange for Korver.
Korver was expected to make his debut with the Cavaliers against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. Those plans, for now, are on hold. Dunleavy initially balked at reporting to Atlanta and sought a buyout to a contract that pays him $4.9 million this season and also includes partially guaranteed $5.2 million final season in 2017-18.
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The Hawks, on the other hand, wanted to keep Dunleavy on the roster to offset the departure of Korver. Dunleavy finally dropped the buyout demand on Monday afternoon and plans to report to the Hawks.
Korver leaves Atlanta with mixed emotions but is ready to embrace his new role with the defending champions.
"Obviously, it's a great opportunity for me to go to Cleveland," Korver said after Atlanta's win over New Orleans last Thursday. "So I'm very excited about that part of it. But there's a lot of relationships that I care about here that I'm going to miss.
"From a basketball perspective, (Cleveland is) a great, great fit for me. And I know that."
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Once the situation is resolved and Korver can suit up for the Cavaliers, he'll offer an additional perimeter weapon to compliment LeBron James. Korver has started 21 times and appeared in 32 games with Atlanta this season. He is averaging 9.5 points while shooting 40.9 percent from 3-point range.
With or without Korver, a fully-healthy Utah squad should offer a challenge to Cleveland. The Jazz (23-16) return home after posting a 2-3 record on a five-game road trip with wins over Brooklyn and Minnesota.
Utah needed a late fourth-quarter surge, ending the game on an 11-0 run, to get the second win over Minnesota.
Right now, Utah is looking to bounce back after suffering an ugly 88-79 loss to Memphis on Sunday. The Jazz shot just 38.9 percent from the field against the Grizzlies. Memphis also forced 18 turnovers and turned those mistakes into 26 points on the other end.
"That is what they do," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said after the loss. "They're good at it. They've got guys that pressure the ball and are good defenders, forcing you to do things you don't want to do at times and speed you up."
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The Jazz have struggled a bit on offense in their last three games, averaging just 88.7 points. Utah totaled just 51 points in its first three quarters against Memphis.
Cleveland has had the opposite problem. The Cavaliers are struggling to slow teams down and have allowed 110.0 points in their last three games. Cleveland blew a 20-point third-quarter lead against Phoenix before hanging on to beat the Suns 120-116 on Sunday.
Turnovers proved to be a key issue. The Cavs coughed up the ball 20 times.
"We made enough plays down the stretch to get a win," forward LeBron James said after the game. "We had a lot of turnovers, especially me and Kyrie (Irving) as our primary ball-handlers. The defensive pressure forced us to extend our offense a little more, but we figured it out."
