Cleveland Cavaliers: The three toughest road trips of 2019-20
The second-toughest road trip: April 1 through the 8, 2020
The Cavs take a week-long trip out West featuring back-to-back games against the two 2019 Western Conference Finalists in the Portland Trail Blazers and Warriors.
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The Utah Jazz play host to the Cavaliers first, putting them up against Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and now Mike Conley as well.
The Jazz have one of the league’s up-and-coming lineups, boasting a well-rounded front line.
While they lost a key defender in Jae Crowder, Gobert should help to fortify their defensive front, and Bojan Bogdanovic is fresh off a career year.
Their defensive rating may not be second-best in the NBA like it was last season (per NBA.com), but the addition of Mike Conley’s offense will offset any defensive lapses they may have this season.
They will make a tough matchup for the Cleveland Cavaliers on both ends of the floor.
After games with the rebuilding Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings, the Cavs face Damian Lillard and the Blazers.
This game is definitely an intriguing matchup for the Cavs, as Darius Garland and Collin Sexton remind me of a young Lillard and CJ McCollum.
While the Portland duo outmatches the Cavs guards, I would like to see the Cavs model the Darius Garland and Sexton dynamic on these two.
This trip wraps up the next night against Stephen Curry and the Warriors. Despite the loss of Kevin Durant via unrestricted free agency to the Brooklyn Nets (who reportedly tore his Achilles, though) and reported ACL tear of Klay Thompson, the Warriors are still a force to be reckoned with.
Now that Curry is paired up with D’Angelo Russell, the Bay Area still houses one of the best backcourt duos in the league.
Combining those two with Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, and a group of young athletic players, the Cavs will have their hands full in this one, too.