Cavaliers at Trail Blazers
The Cleveland Cavaliers managed to hold the Golden State Warriors to a season low in scoring but could not make it out with a Christmas Day win. The Cavaliers will try to bounce back when they travel for the second night of a back-to-back at the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
The NBA Finals rematch ended up a defensive battle, and Cleveland could not come up with the shots when it mattered down the stretch. LeBron James scored 25 points but the Cavaliers shot 31.6 percent from the field in the 89-83 setback, which snapped a six-game winning streak. The Trail Blazers got Christmas off and needed the time to recover after being outscored by an average of 13.2 points while dropping all five of a just-completed five-game road trip. Portland star point guard Damian Lillard missed the final two stops of the trip – the first two missed games of his career – with plantar fasciitis in his left foot and hopes to return on Saturday.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), KGW (Portland)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (19-8): Cleveland was opening a stretch of four games in five nights on the road with the Christmas trip to Golden State and needed 26 minutes from Kyrie Irving in the loss. The Cavaliers are being careful with the star guard, who returned last week from a fractured kneecap, and could keep him off the floor entirely on Saturday. Irving was part of the shooting troubles against the Warriors and went 4-of-15 from the floor, including 0-of-6 from 3-point range.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (11-20): Portland hit bottom on the final stop of the trip, when it was destroyed 115-89 by the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. "We knew that we would have challenges this season," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told reporters. "But every team has challenges during the season. Nobody likes losing. Everybody wants to play well. Certainly we want to improve, we want to win, we want to play well." C.J. McCollum (ankles) returned from a one-game absence but was held to 8-of-21 from the floor in the loss.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers G Mo Williams (thumb) was limited to five minutes off the bench on Friday.
2. Portland F Allen Crabbe is 6-of-34 from 3-point range in the last seven games.
3. Cleveland has won the last two meetings by five points, including a 105-100 triumph on Dec. 8.