Cavaliers at Trail Blazers
The Cleveland Cavaliers looked far more comfortable on the road in gaining their first win and have three games left on the trip to further solidify their level of trust in each other. LeBron James and company will look for a second straight win when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. The Trail Blazers won their opener but have since dropped two straight while being held under 95 points in each setback.
Cavaliers first-year coach David Blatt called a meeting and reportedly got on his team after a lackluster opener at home against New York on Thursday, and the players responded with a little more fight in a 114-108 overtime victory at Chicago on Friday. "He got on us from the time we started our meeting to the time we left,” James told reporters. “And it's great. For a team like us, we need that. I love constructive criticism.” Portland is likely getting some constructive criticism inside the locker room as well after losses at Sacramento and home against Golden State.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (1-1): James insisted that it wasn’t nerves that made him go 5-of-15 and turn the ball over eight times in the opener in front of fans that had been anticipating his return for months. Whatever the problem was, the four-time MVP cleaned things up at Chicago with 36 points, including eight in overtime, while role players like Tristan Thompson stepped up to support the trio of James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. “My role is to get those rebounds,” Thompson, who pulled down 12 offensive boards, told reporters. “I have a knack for finding the ball. … My motto is ‘see ball, get ball.’”
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (1-2): Portland All-Star Damian Lillard is off to a rough start and bottomed out with a 4-of-18 performance in the 95-90 loss to the Warriors on Sunday. “When you don’t make shots, it looks like the offense is out of sync,” coach Terry Stotts told reporters. “The shots are going to fall; that I’m not that concerned about.” Lillard, who averaged 20.7 points last season, is putting up 13.7 points while shooting 26.8 percent from the field in the first three games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers took both meetings with the Cavaliers last season but fell twice to James’ Miami squad.
2. Cleveland waived G A.J. Price and signed G Will Cherry over the weekend.
3. Portland C Joel Freeland (sprained left foot) sat out Sunday and is questionable for Tuesday.