PORTLAND, Oregon – The warning of a winter storm that prompted a treacherous bus ride to the Moda Center was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ least concern on Friday night.
The Cavs spoke as an awakened team after their shameful loss two nights earlier. Head coach JB Bickerstaff was expecting a different, more enthusiastic group. Not so much. Cleveland was crushed by Portland, 129-110. It’s a sixth consecutive loss, dropping the Cavs to the third worst record in the Eastern Conference.
With the Trail Blazers taking an emotional and grueling victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night, the Cavs needed a quick start. Instead, they opened the game 2-of-11 from the field. Six minutes was all it took to lose the game. The Cavs were down 22-4 in the middle of the first quarter – and failed to recover.
“It is clear that we are going through a difficult period against very good teams,” said Bickerstaff. “These teams are coming out, playoff teams hungry for every win and they know we are in this rut and they are trying to beat us early so as not to give us confidence. We just have to keep competing, we have to stick together and we have to figure it out. “
Andre Drummond quickly dropped out after a few early post-up misses. He ended another miserable night plastered on the couch for the last 17 minutes. Drummond scored eight points on 3-of-9 shooting to go with five rebounds and two assists. The Blazers scored the Cavs by 20 points in 17 minutes with Drummond on the floor, continuing an annoying trend during this losing slip.
“We need him to be the best version of himself,” Bickerstaff said of Drummond. “That’s up to us as coaches, that’s up to the team to help them be the best version of themselves. Much of our early success was due to the way he played at both ends of the floor. We have to help him get back to that level because we need him to play that way. “
Jarrett Allen, returned to a reserve role after two starts, finished with 22 points and six rebounds. Collin Sexton got an insignificant 25 points.
Cleveland, the league’s best defensive team ever earlier this season, had no answers for the short-handed Blazers who played without CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Columbus-born Gary Trent Jr. led the way with 26 points. Carmelo Anthony shot 23 points off the bench in 20 minutes. Enes Kanter scored 21 points and got 13 rebounds. Damian Lillard added 20 points and nine assists.
The Cavs knew this road trip would be a test. They would learn a lot about themselves. They have. It’s not a good way.
Suddenly, a fun, promising start has completely disappeared. They are completely lost with a lot of soul searching before they hit rock bottom – if not already there.
Making progress
Injured backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova, who has not played this season due to a serious concussion, trained in the team’s rehearsal room on Friday afternoon. Dellavedova tweeted about the session, saying he believes the injury was more related to his neck and “can’t wait for the guys to get back from the road trip.”
Bickerstaff spoke to Dellavedova on Thursday.
“I’m just glad he’s feeling better,” said Bickerstaff. “The most important thing for us is that he feels better. You think about the toll that’s taking on you, not just physically but mentally, and that he’s in a better place, that’s all that matters. We’ll work out the basketball piece, whatever that looks like, but I’m just excited that he’s feeling better. He’s certainly improved a lot from the conversations we’ve had. We hope this continues and we will edit the basketball piece from there. “
Next one
The Cavs will make their third stop on this five-game road trip when they play against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. The tip is set at 10 PM
New Cavs Face Masks For Sale: Here you can buy Cleveland Cavaliers themed face covers for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All proceeds from the NBA are donated to charity.
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