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Wrap-Up -- Regardless of their record or spot in the standings, the Wine & Gold have always struggled to win in Portland. Wednesday night was no different.
The Cavaliers hung tough early and mounted an admirable comeback late, but the Blazers were simply too much from beyond the arc – drilling 16 triples en route to the 129-112 decision at the Moda Center.
Portland scored at least 30 points in each of the first three quarters and got double-digit efforts from all five starters, but it still wasn’t an easy night at the office against a Cavaliers squad in the middle of an 11-day road trip.
Despite the Blazers going 6-of-8 from long-range in the first quarter, the Cavaliers trailed by just three after one. Portland put up 32 points in the second period and still led Cleveland by just a touchdown at intermission.
But the road – along with the hot-shooting Blazers – caught up with the Cavs after half, with Terry Stotts squad opening up a double-digit lead less than three minutes into the third quarter and barely looking back the rest of the way. Cleveland cut Portland’s 20-point lead in half midway through the fourth, but used up too much juice in the process as the Blazers pulled away late.
After the starters did most of the heavy lifting in Sunday’s victory in Los Angeles, the Cavs’ bench was back to work on Wednesday – combining for 66 points in the loss.
Jordan Clarkson led the way with 22 points – his fourth 20-point effort in the last seven games – going 9-for-17 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, to go with three assists.
Rodney Hood had his second straight strong outing – adding 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting, adding four boards and a pair of assists.
J.C. scores in double figures for the 39th time this season off the bench.
The only other Cavalier starter in double-figures was Collin Sexton, who chipped in with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting in 30 minutes of work.
Ante Zizic and Cameron Payne each did their best work after half. On the night, Zizic went 5-of-8 from the floor to finish with 16 points, eight boards and a pair of blocks. Payne added 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including 2-of-3 from long-range.
Matthew Dellavedova led the Wine & Gold with six assists off the bench and Jaron Blossomgame was the squad’s leading rebounder, grabbing 10 boards in 28 minutes of relief.
The Blazers starters had no such trouble on Wednesday night.
Damian Lillard got off to a hot start and barely slowed down from there – finishing with a game-high 33 points, going 11-of-19 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Center Jusuf Nurkic tallied his first career triple-double in the win – going for an even 10 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.
As a team, the Cavaliers handled Portland in the paint – outscoring the Blazers, 66-48. But Portland made up for its shortcomings down low by going 16-for-29 from long-range.
Turning Point -- The Cavaliers went toe-to-toe with the Blazers through the game’s first 24 minutes, but began running out of gas in the third quarter and couldn’t complete their comeback in the fourth.
After leading by seven at intermission, the Blazers used a 22-10 run in the first half of the third quarter to put themselves up 18. When Al-Farouq Aminu canned a three-pointer with 4:29 to play in the period, Portland led by 21 points – putting Cleveland behind the 8-ball for the rest of the night.
By the Numbers – 53.5 … points that the Cavaliers bench is averaging through the first four games of the current road trip. Excluding the Lakers game, the Cavaliers have had at least three reserves notch double-figures in each contest – combining for 75 points against New Orleans, 59 against the Rockets and 66 in Wednesday’s loss to Portland.
Quotable – Rodney Hood, on the Blazers’ hot shooting on Wednesday night …
”At half time the Blazers had hit 11 threes. It was a seven-point game and we were kind of lucky to still be in the game and down only seven points with them shooting at a high clip. I think we played well for three quarters and then the game kind of slipped away. Give them credit, they hit some shots and they executed well.”
Up Next -- After falling to the Blazers on Wednesday night in Portland, the Cavaliers close out their longest junket of the season with a weekend back-to-back – traveling to Salt Lake City for a Friday night showdown with the Jazz followed by a Saturday night meeting with the Northwest-leading Nuggets. The Wine & Gold return home for an MLK Day matinee against the Bulls before getting right back on the road – traveling to Boston for a meeting with the Celtics next Wednesday night. The Cavs then close out the month of January with two of three at The Q.