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 "But I kept thinking, 'They're going to miss one,'" Portland
Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum said. "I've never seen a team
shoot 100 percent the whole game."
Sure enough, the Cavaliers missed one. And another. And they never
found their groove again in a 101-82 loss to the Trail Blazers.
Guard Damian Lillard went for a game-high 27 points and added seven
assists and six rebounds for the Blazers (2-2). Guard Wesley
Matthews contributed 21 points and six rebounds, and center Robin
Lopez added 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go with six rebounds.
Forward Kevin Love collected 22 points and 10 rebounds for the
Cavaliers (1-2), but he had far too little help. Forward LeBron
James finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and
guard Kyrie Irving contributed only nine points and five assists on
a 3-for-17 shooting night.
After making their first 10 shots, the Cavaliers struggled from the
field the rest of the game, finishing at 36.5 percent (31-for-85).
"We just had too many mistakes," James said. "We're a team that's
coming together for the first time, and we have to clean those up."
The Blazers shot 49.3 percent (37-for-75), won the rebound battle
48-41, committed only 12 turnovers and held Cleveland to 28 percent
shooting after the first seven minutes.
"That looked like the team we need to be," Portland coach Terry
Stotts said. "We withstood their early barrage, stayed with our
schemes on coverages, and over the next 3 1/2 quarters, we did a
great job defensively. It was a solid win at both ends of the
court."
Stotts used the 6-foot-5 Matthews to defend the 6-8 James for large
portions of the game. James made only four of 12 shots from the
field and scored two points over the final three quarters.
"I just wanted to make everything difficult," Matthews said. "He is
arguably the best player in the game. He'll go down as one of the
greatest to ever play. I wanted to contest his catches and his
passes, don't give him free runs, free cuts. Try not to let him get
into any kind of rhythm."
Lillard, meanwhile, was in sync after averaging 13.7 points and
shooting 26.8 percent from the field through the first three games.
"It's the same game I've been playing," said Lillard, who shot
6-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-10 from 3-point range. "The
only difference was, the shots just went in."
The Cavs came out smoking, sinking their first 10 shots from the
field -- including five from 3-point range -- to take a 27-20 lead.
The Blazers responded with a 9-0 run to jump in front. Cleveland
took a 34-31 advantage into the second quarter.
"A lot of the shots they made were shots we could live with,"
Lillard said. "LeBron hit a couple from really deep, but
offensively, we had rhythm. We moved the ball well. We got good
looks, and we actually made them."
[to top of second column] |
With Lillard and Lopez leading the way, Portland rallied to go
ahead 55-50 at halftime. Lillard had 15 first-half points, going
3-for-5 from 3-point range, while Lopez had 13 points on 6-for-9
shooting before the break.
After its initial flawless run of shooting, Cleveland made just nine
of its last 34 shots before the break and wound up at 43.2 from the
field by halftime. Portland, meanwhile, shot at a 52.5 percent clip
(21-for-40) and ruled the boards 26-19 through intermission.
Portland started the second half with a 12-4 run to extend a
five-point halftime lead to 67-54. The Cavaliers whittled the margin
down to 76-69 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Blazers kept up the pressure, and when they stoked their
advantage to 92-74 with 3:55 to play, the issue was decided.
"I don't think we brought it, to be honest," first-year Cleveland
coach David Blatt said. "I don't think we brought intensity. I don't
think we brought any type of mindset to defend. That caught up with
us, because the ball's not always going to go in."
NOTES: Cleveland F LeBron James scored 10 points or more in a 575th
consecutive game, moving into a tie with Karl Malone for third on
the NBA's all-time list. Michael Jordan holds the record at 866. ...
James' 11 points represented his lowest scoring total since
Decembers 2008. ... Portland's victory was its seventh in its past
eight meetings with Cleveland. ... F Kevin Love, making his first
trip home as a Cavalier, got tickets from each of his teammates for
the game. "Nobody was allowed to say no," James said with a laugh.
... Long-time European coach David Blatt, a Boston native in his
first season coaching the Cavs, on transitioning to the NBA: "I feel
comfortable. I tell the guys all the time, one thing I'm doing real
well with is the language. I've been on top of that."
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