Portland Trail Blazers send the Cleveland Cavaliers packing

Recap

The Portland Trail Blazers pulled away from the Cleveland Cavaliers to win 101-82 in the Moda Center tonight. Damian Lillard led all scorers with 27 points, while LeBron James (11) and Kyrie Irving (9) combined for 20.

It looked like the Trail Blazers were in for a rough night when the Cavaliers opened the game on 10-10 shooting (5-5 from deep), but that was the extent of Cleveland’s heat. For such an amazing start, Cleveland ultimately finished the game at 36.5 percent from the floor. They led Portland 34-31 at the end of the first quarter, but the Trail Blazers outscored them in each subsequent period.

Tonight’s heroes were Lillard and Robin Lopez (honorable mention to Wesley Matthews, who ran up the score late in the game). Lillard returned to form with a more familiar ease while Lopez broke character, scoring 19 points—one point shy of his 2013-14 season-high.

On Cleveland’s end, the only bright spots were Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson. Love had his usual double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Thompson was a monster on the offensive glass. Yet, neither contribution could cancel out teammate woes, as Irving shot a dismal 3-17 (17.6 percent) from the field, dooming the Cavaliers in the long run.

The Cavaliers looked out of sorts in Head Coach David Blatt’s somewhat wonky rotations. Although a talented team, they did not look like one when none of the Big 3 were on the floor. Blatt may reconsider resting James, Love, and Irving simultaneously in the future—though that is not to say that James or Irving played particularly well when they were in the game tonight.

The Trail Blazers took advantage in spurts, bleeding the Cavaliers in the second and fourth quarters, when the Cavaliers’ second unit got the most run. Portland simply out-executed Cleveland. They out-scored them, out-rebounded them, out-assisted them, out-blocked them, out-stole them, and committed fewer turnovers.

They played some damn good defense too. Portland ran Cleveland off the three-point line, and forced the drive baseline for most of the evening. Irving and Dion Waiters were stuck with heavily contested layups and ill-advised midrange pull-up jumpers—hence the horrendous field goal percentage.

Players

Lillard did not seem to be bothered by the abdominal strain that has plagued him in recent games. Although he struggled to convert at the rack, he was rewarded with five trips to the free throw line, nailing all 10 free throws. He also made 5-10 from beyond the arc, finishing the game with 27 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and  no turnovers.

LaMarcus Aldridge had a quiet night, but not an ineffective one. He scored 16 points and continued a disconcerting trend with only four rebounds. His back-downs were being called tight, and he deferred to others for scoring.

Lopez played a fantastic offensive game. His touch has gotten much softer over the last year in Portland. That little baby hook would not have fallen so effortlessly at the start of last season. Cleveland did not appear to have planned for a high degree of offensive involvement from the big man, who scored 19 points on 8-11 shooting.

Matthews deserves a lot of credit here. For his prolific scoring and tenacious defense on James, Matthews earned the highest +/- of anybody on either team, with +27. He finished the game with 21 points and 6 rebounds.

Nicolas Batum deserves credit, too, for being James’ primary defender. Every time Blatt called James off the bench, Stotts answered in kind with a gangly Frenchman ready to ruin his rhythm. James, who attempted 30 field goals against Chicago on Friday, only got 12 shots off tonight.

The Trail Blazers get one day to rest and enjoy their victory before hosting the Dallas Mavericks for another tough one at home. Portland is now 2-2, exactly how they started their impressive campaign last year.