The warm-up was over, the players had been introduced, the national anthem had been sung and all that remained was to proceed to the jump ball between Cavaliers and Jazz. Except that this one had to be delayed by a good half hour.
Reason: a problem with the arch, not aligned. After a few attempts to resolve the problem, the technicians at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse decided it was best to replace the basket entirely. So they took out the emergency basket while players and coaches did what they could.
Darius Garland and Evan Mobley had fun with the fans behind the team's bench, others returned to the locker room for a second individual warm-up session, while Jarrett Allen converted a one-handed shot with his back to the basket and from midfield, under the eyes of the mascot “Moondog”.
« It was weird. We were all seated, and they came to see us before lifting the basket, telling us that we would have to wait 7 to 10 minutes. It wasn't 7-10 minutes, but Cleveland had to deal with the same thing, so it's not like it was an advantage or the other way around for us. We just had to adapt. I was thinking more about the flight home and what time we were going to get home, but once the game started I didn't even think about it. », confie Walker Kessler.
This 35-minute delay ultimately did not have much effect on the expected outcome of this meeting. Namely a victory – the 17th in 18 home games – for the Cavaliers.
