Trail Blazers at Cavaliers
The two hottest players in the NBA will be on the same floor Tuesday when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Cleveland Cavaliers. Portland standout LaMarcus Aldridge was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the second straight week and third time overall this season, while Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving landed Eastern Conference honors. Aldridge averaged 25.5 points and 14.8 rebounds in four Portland victories while Irving averaged 29 points and 6.3 assists as the Cavaliers went 2-1.
Irving has helped Cleveland win five of its last seven games after the Cavaliers got off to a rocky 4-12 start. Cleveland has been particularly tough at home recently, winning four straight while holding opponents to 89.3 points and 41.1 percent shooting from the field. Aldridge has teamed with point guard Damian Lillard to help Portland to the best record in the NBA. The Trail Blazers are 11-2 on the road, including back-to-back wins to start the current four-game excursion.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (21-4): Lillard has been fantastic this season and continually rises to the challenge of pressure situations as he knocked down a fadeaway jumper as time expired in overtime to give Portland a 111-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. He figures to be highly motivated at the sight of Irving as he struggled to 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting last season in the lone matchup between the two young standouts. Lillard’s strong 3-point shooting – he ranks third in the NBA with 68 3-point baskets – continues to open room for Aldridge to operate. Aldridge is not only averaging 23.5 points and 10.9 rebounds but he already has 20 games of at least 20 points and 14 double-doubles.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (9-14): Irving is averaging 26.8 points in four games since a dreadful 0-of-9 shooting outing rendered him scoreless against the Atlanta Hawks. He had a 37-point, 11-assist performance against the New York Knicks last week and followed it up with 31 points against the Orlando Magic. “He’s got special talents,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown told reporters on Monday. “And the neat part about it is: Can he continue to find ways to attain those accolades while the team is winning or helping the team win? And when that happens, to me, that’s very, very, very meaningful.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Portland has lost seven of its last nine visits to Cleveland.
2. Irving is averaging 26 points on 22-of-41 shooting in two career outings against the Trail Blazers.
3. Trail Blazers F Nicolas Batum has made at least one 3-pointer in all 25 games and is only the NBA player to have one in each of his team’s games.