Cavs: 1 stud, 1 dud from win over Portland Trail Blazers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are flying high. Two nights after righting the ship and beating the Charlotte Hornets to improve to 4-4 on the season and end their 5-game road trip with a winning record, the Cavs returned home and beat the explosive Portland Trail Blazers 107-104. They are now 5-4, good enough for eighth-place in a crowded Eastern Conference.

Portland is ostensibly a better team, but so were Atlanta, Denver and the Clippers. Wherever you deem Cleveland’s true talent level to be, they are proving capable of taking on any opponent and hanging tough. Only once in nine games have they been beaten before the start of the fourth quarter, and even in that game (Phoenix) they made a run to make it much closer by the end of the game. The Cavs can compete with, and beat, anyone.

The Cavs got another impressive win Wednesday night, beating Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. What stood out from the 107-104 victory?

This win was a true team performance. The defense stepped up in a big way against a high-octane foe. Damian Lillard dropped 26 points, but it took him 27 shots. On key possessions late both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen switched out onto him and forced a miss.

Speaking of Allen, he would be the “second stud” from the night. In addition to forcing a miss on the final possession he was dominant inside and on the boards, scoring a team-best 24 points and pulling in 17 rebounds. Dylan Windler entered the rotation with Lauri Markkanen in health and safety protocols and went 3-for-3 from deep.

Let’s look a little closer at 1 stud and 1 dud from the Portland win, starting with the best game of the season from Darius Garland.