The Portland Trail Blazers five-game road trip continues as the squad travels from The Six to The Land to play the Cleveland Cavaliers today.
Both teams enter arena Rocket Arena hobbled by injury. Portland has five players riding the pine and has lost eight of its last ten games. Cleveland is in similar shape, sitting four rotation players and having lost three of the last four.
With the Bucks, Celtics and Pacers all losing star players to catastrophic injuries, the door seemed wide open for the Cavaliers to avenge last season’s disappointing second-round Playoff exit, run through the beleaguered Eastern Conference and take a shot at the title. Instead, the team continues to lack toughness and has lost three of its last four games. It sits 4.5 games behind the conference-leading Pistons. While Cleveland has a much better win-loss record than the Blazers, it has struggled to beat good teams.
Portland Trail Blazers (8-13) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (13-9) – Wed., Dec. 3 – 4pm Pacific
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
Trail Blazers injuries: Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley, Jrue Holiday (Out)
Suns injuries: Jarret Allen, Sam Merrill, Larry Nance Jr., Max Strus (Out); Lonzo Ball (Probable)
Thin in the Middle. The Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen is out with a finger injury. Larry Nance Jr. is out with a calf strain. That leaves little-used Thomas Bryant and Evan Mobley to provide interior defense. Opponents’ points in the paint are way up.
It’s Pronounced AHV-Dee-Yah. Put some respect on his name. Not even the Blazers forward’s new protein-enriched ice cream brand can cool off his mounting All-Star campaign. I look for him to dominate the Cavs’ weakened interior defense.
Coach’s Orders. The Cavaliers lost three in a row before a win Monday night in Indiana. Donovan Mitchell went off for 43 points in the victory. After the game, Cleveland coach, Kenny Atkinson revealed that he was so desperate to stop the skid that he asked the point guard to go for 40.
“No, I don’t think it’s a good thing. I don’t like that process where we have to rely on [Mitchell] so much, but it kind of is what it is. We had a little text exchange before the game. I said, ‘You’ve got to go for 40 tonight.’ I’ve never said that to a player. If you take 30 shots, I’m good with it.”
From the Mouths of Babes. Second-year Cleveland forward and Cal alum Jaylon Tyson scored a career-best 27 points to help the Cavaliers blow out the Pacers. After the game, he called out his veteran teammates.
The Full 48. Acting head coach, Tiago Splitter had a similar message in his Toronto post-game presser. He challenged his young squad to play with focus and intensity for the entire game.
“We got back into the game because we found a group that competes, and we need that for longer than that. We need 48 minutes of fight.”
The Blazers have no trouble playing with the passion Tyson wants to see out of the Cavs. But, can they put together four quarters of winning basketball in Cleveland? Sound off!