Phenomenal: The Blazers Reveal Their Strategy for Maintaining Winning Tempo following Triumph over Cavs
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In their loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost a 16-point lead.
It would have been fantastic to win on Thursday night. A victory on Thursday was unquestionably possible. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not conclude with a win on Thursday.
The Cavs were defeated 103-95 by the Portland Trail Blazers, who staged a late comeback to seal the game.
This one has a lot to look at. Let’s get started with some Game Grades.
Cavaliers Offense: D+
The only thing saving the Cavs from falling into the dreadful “F” tier was how hot they started the game.
Cleveland scored 25 points in the opening 12 minutes and established a strong presence inside, opening up the long ball. However, that game plan disappeared in the next three quarters, and so did the Cavs’ offense.
The Cavs were outscored 63-49 in the second half, as the Trail Blazers erased a 16-point Cleveland lead and ceased control of the game late in the fourth quarter.
The reason for this is the Cavaliers just went cold from the floor and could not recover. Cleveland shot 42% from the field and 21% (7-32) from behind the arc in the game.
Cleveland’s top scorers were:
- Donovan Mitchell – 23 PTS (7-20 FG)
- Evan Mobley – 20 PTS (9-14 FG)
- Darius Garland – 15 PTS (6-18 FG)
Consistency has been an issue for the Cavaliers all season, and this game perfectly represented that.
Cavaliers Defense: B
All things considered, Cleveland’s defense wasn’t all that bad tonight. Yes, the final stretch was pretty ugly, but these are “Game Grades,” not “Last Eight minutes of the Fourth Quarter Grades.”
The Cavs held Portland to 40 points in the first half, scored 31 points off 23 turnovers, and finished with a defensive rating of 107.5. Cleveland also recorded 12 steals and limited Portland to just 11 free throws all night.
It wasn’t the defense that lost them the game, but rather, the offense.
Overall: C-
This loss raises many more questions than it answers. It felt like the team was headed in a great direction after defeating the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, but Thursday’s loss was two steps in the wrong direction.
What happened to them in the last 48 hours? The Cavs went cold from the field, and their defense wasn’t enough to fend off a fast, young Blazers team.
It’s not uncommon for a team to deal with a little inconsistency to start the season, but the Cavs have now developed a trend of struggling to hold onto big leads.
Obviously, this is a tough loss. However, Cleveland needs to look ahead to get back on track.
The Trail Blazers’ defense and 3-point shooting shined once more in a 103-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers
he Portland Trail Blazers overcame a poor first half Wednesday night at the Cleveland Cavaliers to dominate the second half and pull out a second road victory on their four-game trip.
The Blazers struggled to take care of the ball in the first half and fell behind by as many as 16 points before delivering a completely different brand of basketball in the second half, earning a 103-95 win at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups told reporters. “I thought their physicality, jumping in passing lanes hurt us in the first half. We were playing like robots out there. We talked before the game about how they’re gonna be in the passing lanes. Cut behind the defense, we’ll get layups and dunks, we’ll be able to create other opportunities, and we just didn’t do it.”
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