The Portland Trail Blazers are back home after a winless three-game east coast road trip through Boston, Washington, DC, and New York.
They start a five-game homestand tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that has won seven of its last nine games and has its sights set on home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Cavaliers currently rank fifth in the East, but are just two games out of second place.
The Blazers won the first meeting between the teams, earning a 122-110
win in Cleveland on December 3rd. Deni Avdija led the way with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Shaedon Sharpe was out of the starting lineup at that time, but he and Caleb Love each scored 20 points off the bench.
That loss dropped the Cavaliers to a disappointing 13-10. Despite fielding largely the same roster that went 64-18 last year to earn the no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Cavaliers have underachieved this season. There are signs, though, that they are turning things around.
Like the Blazers, The Cavaliers are navigating injuries to some of their key players. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley will miss Sunday night’s contest with a calf strain. All-Star guard Darius Garland will miss his ninth straight game with a toe injury.
But unlike the Blazers, the Cavaliers are thriving despite the lengthy injury report. Donovan Mitchell is having another stellar season, averaging 29.1 points (sixth best in the NBA) while shooting 38.4% on nearly ten three-point attempts per game. NBA.com currently lists Mitchell seventh in the MVP race.
And it isn’t just Mitchell that lights up the scoreboard. The Cavaliers are fifth in the NBA at 119.1 points per game. Can the Blazers slow them down and get back to their winning ways?
Let’s take a look at tonight’s game.
What you need to Know
Portland Trail Blazers (23-26) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (29-21) – Sun. Feb. 1 – 6pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network.
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Rip City Radio 620AM
Trail Blazers Injuries: Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Duop Reath, Kris Murray, Jrue Holiday (Out); Blake Wesley, Deni Avdija, Robert Williams III (Questionable).
Cavaliers Injuries: Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, Max Strus, Luke Travers (Out); Craig Porter Jr., Tristan Enaruna (Questionable).
Cavaliers SB Nation Affiliate: Fear the Sword
What to Watch For:
Avdija’s Health. Avdija has been back in the lineup for the past two games, but he hasn’t produced at the same level. In the losses to Washington and New York, he averaged 14 points and three assists while turning the ball over five times per game.
At press time, he is listed as questionable against the Cavaliers. Can he play at all? Will he be able to play with force? Are the Blazers better off deactivating him for a few more games to allow him to fully heal?
First Quarter Aggression. During the Blazers four-game losing streak, they are averaging 18.3 points in the first quarter, by far the worst such number in the league. They are shooting a putrid 29.8% overall and just 21.7% from behind the three-point arc.
Throughout the season, they have been good at getting to the free throw line, but during the four-game skid, they are attempting only 2.8 free throws per game in the first quarter.
Will a lively home crowd spark a better first quarter? Can Avdija get back to his pre-injury form? Are the Blazers simply due for a hot shooting night? Or…
Stifling Defense. The primary driver of the Cavaliers’ recent hot stretch has their defense. With Garland out of the lineup, they have played bigger lineups with better defenders and rebounders.
They allowed 126 points in a loss to Phoenix on Friday night, but before that, they won five games in a row by holding their opponents to an average of just 101.4 points per game. In three of those five wins, their opponents failed to cross the 100-point threshold.
Which Cavaliers defense will show up tonight? If it’s the one that allowed 126 points to a Phoenix team playing without Devin Booker, the Blazers have a chance. If it’s the one that’s been locking down opposing offenses over the past few weeks, it could be another low-scoring night for the Blazers.
What Others are Saying:
Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto sees a mounting pile of evidence that the Cavaliers may play better when Garland is out of the lineup:nd suggests moving Garland to the bench may make sense:
When Garland’s played this year, they’re 13-13. When he’s been out, they’re 16-7. And two years ago, when Garland missed a fair amount of time… without him, they went 17-8
And suggests moving Garland to the bench may make sense:
Players like Garland, who’s kind of smaller and kind of thin, but can score some, they tend to thrive being that instant offense off the bench
Shaedon Sharpe cracked The Ringer’s Top 100 NBA Player Rankings for the first time, coming in at no. 99. In describing Sharpe’s game, writer Danny Chau compares him to an active player that is 22nd (and still climbing) on the NBA’s all-time scoring list:
In many ways, Sharpe is living the dream as a young and talented creative: He’s been given the space to refine what he’s good at, without having to absorb added scrutiny over what he lacks. He is the Blazers’ most intuitive scorer, but with Deni Avdija taking on a broader swath of responsibilities on both sides of the ball, Sharpe doesn’t have to be overburdened—at least not yet. Sharpe has already become one of the most potent scoring specialists in the league. He appears to be on a trajectory similar to DeMar DeRozan’s, whose truest form as a star didn’t emerge until his late 20s—and Sharpe is further along and more technically skilled than DeRozan was at this stage in his development.
