The Cleveland Cavaliers were fresh off an argumenttheir most complete wins of the season, with a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves over the weekend. Unfortunately, the Wine and Gold couldn’t follow that up with another win, with the Cavaliers falling to the Utah Jazz on Monday evening, 123-112.

Here are three observations from Cleveland’s disappointing loss to its Western Conference foe. 

There were times on Monday evening when the Cavaliers were playing like the elite team they’ve been over the last few games. There were also 

The Cavaliers were outscored 34-22 in the first quarter while shooting 36 percent from the floor. Cleveland followed that up with a 40-point second quarter in which the team connected on 65 percent of its shots from the floor. 

The second half was full of more disjointed play from the Cavaliers. They ultimately shot 40 percent from the floor in the final 24 minutes of the game, which wasn’t good enough to top the Jazz. 

Cleveland showed at times it was good enough to be Utah, but was unable to put it all together to actually come away with the victory.

There were certainly some concerns with Cleveland’s offense against the Jazz, but the Cavaliers’ defense was also a reason for this loss, especially their three-point defense. The Cavs simply had no answers for Utah’s three-point attack. The Jazz shot 44 percent (18-for-41) from behind the arc, with Keyonte George alone knocking down four three-point shots. 

After Cleveland took the lead heading into halftime, it let the Jazz right back in the game in the third quarter, with Utah knocking down seven threes in the third quarter alone. 

Every time it felt like Cleveland was on the precise of shifting the momentum in the second half, it felt like Utah answered back with a three to stop a potential Cavalier run before it started. 

While the Cavaliers were struggling with consistency across the major facets of the game, they were also struggling with hustle. 

Cleveland was outrebounded 50-30 by Utah, which also outscored the Cavaliers on second-chance opportunities and won the possession game. Kenny Atkinson even said after the game, it felt like the Jazz “won the mental battle.”