(SportsNetwork.com) – The Cleveland Cavaliers started their road trip west in
horrible fashion, but will try to rebound Wednesday night when they visit the
Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.
The Cavs got hammered in Portland, 101-82, Tuesday night by a Blazers team
which had lost two in a row.
Kevin Love led Cleveland with 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds and
LeBron James scored 11 points — all in the first half — to go along with
seven rebounds and seven assists.
Tristan Thompson chipped in 10 points and eight boards off the bench for the
Cavs.
“I just don’t think we brought intensity or any type of mindset to defend,”
Cavaliers head coach David Blatt said. “We were scoring, but we weren’t making
stops.”
Despite the Cavs making their first 10 shot attempts from the floor, Portland
did a nice job limiting their opponent to just 31-of-85 shooting for the game.
It was a night to forget for Kyrie Irving. He managed nine points on 3-for-17
shooting and was outplayed by Blazers’ All-Star point guard Damian Lillard,
who went off for 27 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
To counter Blatt’s point, the Cavs trailed by seven after three quarters, but
fell in the final 12 minutes, 25-13. Cleveland shot 23.8 percent from the
field in the fourth, but did allow 25 points in the final frame.
The Cavs end this road trip Friday night in Denver.
The Jazz fell on the road Monday night to the Los Angeles Clippers, 107-101.
Gordon Hayward paced the Jazz with 27 points, but they fell to 1-3 on the
young season and dropped their 10th straight game against the Clippers. Enes
Kanter donated 17 points and nine boards in a losing cause.
Alec Burks tallied 16 points, while Trevor Booker chipped in 12 off the bench.
Dante Exum, the fifth pick in this summer’s draft, had seven points on 3-for-6
shooting.
“It’s hard when you get down on the road against a team like this,” Hayward
said. “We played super hard, just little things that come back to bite you.”
The Jazz took the lead on a Rudy Gobert dunk early in the fourth quarter, but
the Clippers responded.
The Cavaliers swept last season’s two meetings with Utah and have taken three
of the last four matchups. Cleveland’s win in Salt Lake City in January
snapped a four-game road losing streak in this series.
