The Cleveland Cavaliers rolled into Portland but got run out of town by a stout and hungry Trail Blazers team.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers snuck past the Chicago Bulls on Friday in overtime, it looked like the sort of impressive win that could get a team rolling. That may be the case with this Cavaliers team, but the streakiness will have to wait until later on in the season it seems, as the Cavs are as up and down as it gets at this point.
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It was a game that was totally and completely dominated by the Trail Blazers, which is wildly concerning when it comes to hoping for growth with this team. There were bright spots tonight, such as Kevin Love winning his matchup against LaMarcus Aldridge but that’s really where the fun on the night ended.
Anderson Varejao had four turnovers on the night, which was a rough way to go into Portland and try to prove he’s the big man the Cavs need in big games. He also only had nine points and five rebounds, which was an even more brutal way to end things as he let the Cavaliers down in the paint.
The loss isn’t on Varejao though — it’s on the entire team. Somehow the Cavaliers defense — what little that showed up in Portland — allowed Damien Lillard to go for 27 points and seven assists in 36 minutes on the court. It wasn’t just Lillard who went off on the Cavaliers, as Wesley Matthews went for 21 points and six rebounds while even Thomas Robinson had a decent game grabbing eight rebounds with the team being plus-six with him on the floor.
LeBron James only saw 35 minutes on Tuesday, which meant that Shawn Marion was used much more against the Blazers than he was against both the Bulls and the Knicks in the first two games. LeBron’s minutes load was of much scrutiny leading into the game and it’s something that David Blatt is no doubt watching. But when it comes down it, the Cavaliers were minus-15 with LeBron on the floor with Kevin Love turning in the best night of all the Cavaliers.
There are still 79 games left in the season and we can’t form too many opinions about this Cavaliers team just yet. What we can do is observe that there are a lot of things that need to change with the Cavaliers as this team still has a ton of work to do before they’re taken seriously as an NBA Finals favorite.
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