The Cleveland Cavaliers have a lot of momentum on their side when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
Going up against their fourth Western Conference opponent, Portland will head to Rocket Arena down on its luck, having lost its last three games and misfiring at both ends of the floor.
For the Cavs, they come into this game having bagged their first win in three games on Monday against the Indiana Pacers, who have only won four games themselves, and Cleveland will be eyeing this encounter with the Blazers as a chance to flex on the defensive end.
It also means that for Evan Mobley, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, this will be his opportunity to showcase his supreme rim protection, quick feet, and suffocating on-ball presence.
Mobley will be licking his lips at the prospect, given that the Trail Blazers are knotted with the Pacers as the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA at 32 percent and are 25th in two-point shooting at 46 percent.
The Blazers are also in the bottom ten for rim efficiency and mid-range scoring. But these stats come with a large number of attempts, and with that, they are 13th for field goal percentage in the paint, going 43 percent.
For Portland, much of its offense has come from its sixth-year star Deni Avdija, who is having a career-high season so far, averaging 25.8 points on 47 per cent shooting.
The Israeli international put up a triple-double in the Trail Blazers’ defeat against the smoking hot Oklahoma City Thunder. Avdija had 31 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in the 123-115 loss.
On Tuesday, the 24-year-old had 25 points, 14 assists and eight boards in a 121-118 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Since coming off a productive FIBA EuroBasket campaign over the summer for Israel, where he ended third overall in scoring at 24 points per game, Avdija is enjoying his best season in the NBA.
Therefore, for the Cavs, it will be pivotal to contain him. Do so and utilize Mobley on the defensive end, force turnovers and break in transition; this has the hallmarks of a trademark Cleveland performance fans were accustomed to last season.
After a three-game skid, the Cavaliers rebounded nicely against the Pacers. But with Donovan Mitchell stating that this is how his team should play every night, this is their chance to make that statement against Portland emphatically.