Deron Williams (ankle) and Andrei Kirilenko (finger) were sidelined again with injuries, and Memo Okur remains in Turkey with his critically ill father.
To make matters worse, veteran forward Matt Harpring did not play on the second night of back-to-back games as he continues to recover from offseason ankle surgery.
Just the kind of defender the Jazz could have used against LeBron James, who scored 38 points in the Cavs' 105-93 win, Harpring has now played in only two of Utah's first 10 games.
Coach Jerry Sloan, however, did not want to hear about the Jazz's bad luck.
"That's part of the business," he said. "You can sit around and feel sorry for yourself or go play."
There is no official timetable for any of the injured players' return, although Kirilenko said before the game that he would be ready to play Monday night against Phoenix.
Guarding LeBron
Three years ago, James scored 51 points against the Jazz.
He didn't get that many in this victory, but he had 21 points in the second half, when the Cavaliers rallied from a 10-point deficit.
"There's nobody who can handle him," Sloan said. "He's such a wonderful player - a big, huge guy who can handle the basketball and do whatever he's inclined to do."
The Jazz tried Ronnie Brewer, Morris Almond, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap on James, who went 13-for-21 from the field.
According to Sloan, the key to trying and defend a star like James is standing up to him.
"I think guys get intimidated right off the bat against great players," he said. "Right off the bat, they say, 'Oh, I can't compete against him.' And you might not be at their level. But you certainly don't want to give them the idea you are going to back away. Once you back away, you're dead."
Cavaliers get boost
The Cavs entered the game as the No. 4 scoring team in the league, averaging 100.7 points per game.
Known for their grind-it-out offense in recent seasons, the new pop in Cleveland's attack can be partially attributed to point guard Mo Williams, who was acquired during the offseason.
Williams averaged 15.4 points and five assists in the Cavaliers' first nine games.
luhm@sltrib.com
