Recap: Cavaliers 137, Trail Blazers 125 (or, OH MY GOSH, THAT WAS AWESOME!)

Evidence. pic.twitter.com/vSsJLqA9Sq

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 24, 2016

The above is evidence of what may be the most unbelievable thing I have seen a Cleveland Cavalier do on a basketball court. Coming off a decisive win over the Detroit Pistons, followed by a rare four-day rest, the Cleveland Cavaliers returned to action last night against as the Portland Trail Blazers at Quicken Loans Arena. While the Cavs were well-rested, the Blazers were on the second night of a back-to-back, having lost to the Knicks in New York Tuesday night, and were playing their fifth game in seven nights. Still, a big night from Blazers star Damian Lillard is always possible, maybe even expected. What Kevin Love did in the first quarter? Not so much.

First Quarter

The Cavaliers began the game with their standard lineup of Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson, while the Trail Blazers began with Lillard, McCollum, Moe Harkless, Mason Plumlee, and Ed Davis, who started at power forward in place of the injured Al-Farouq Aminu. The Blazers have been one of the worst defensive teams in the league to start the year and it got much worse tonight as the Cavaliers hit their first seven shots to start the game, and Kevin Love began the most amazing first quarter in NBA history. It was so bad that when Portland coach Terry Stotts called for time 3:30 into the game, the Blazers were down 20-9 despite shooting 50% from the field during that time. The time-out didn’t do anything for the Trail Blazers, as Love hit two more threes to give him 20 points less than five minutes into the game. The only reason the Blazers had any contact at all was due to the Cavaliers’ defense allowing them to shoot 55% from the field, as well as four early Cleveland turnovers. It didn’t matter as Kevin Love continued the most amazing start to a basketball game that I, or anyone else, has ever seen, hitting two more threes. Love finished the quarter with a mind-boggling 34 points—the second most in a quarter in NBA history, and most ever in the first quarter—on 11-14 from the field and 8-of-10 from three. LeBron James chipped in with three points and seven assists, and all told, the Cavaliers shot 71% from the field and 77% from three to lead the Blazers 46-31 after the first quarter.

https://twitter.com/TJZuppe/status/801583313156763648

Second Quarter

The Trail Blazers started the quarter with five quick points by Meyers Leonard to pull to within ten before the Cavaliers responded with a three by Channing Frye. The Cavs continued to pull away, despite the Blazers making six straight shots at one point and pushing their shooting up to  62% from the field. Frye picked up where Love left off, shooting four-of-five from downtown to go along with a pair of freebies for 14 points in the quarter. J.R. Smith got in on the action with a pair of threes of his own to go along with a reverse layup, and James had a pair of and-ones. Kyrie Irving began to get in on the action with an and-one of his own to push the Cavaliers’ lead to 20 with three minutes left in the half. Despite Kevin Love only getting one shot attempt in the quarter, the Cavs were able to keep this lead and went into the half up 81-60 while shooting 59% from the field and 73% from three. Besides the heroics of Frye and Love, LeBron James had 13 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, and Kyrie Irving chipped in 11 points on four-of-eight shooting, including two-of-three from the floor. At this point, one almost had to feel bad for the Trail Blazers, down 21 despite shooting 52% from the field and 43% from three.

Third Quarter

If there was a worry for the Cavaliers coming into the second half, it was that they would become complacent. That was the case early as Portland started the third quarter on an 8-0 run to pull to within 13. Tyronn Lue quickly called time-out in an attempt to wake his team up. It didn’t really work, as the Blazers pulled to within 11 before a pair of baskets by Irving. Both teams continued to take the night off at the defensive end, and the Cavaliers’ lead stayed around 15. Tristan Thompson got in on the action with five points on a pair of baskets and a layup to help keep the Blazers at bay. LeBron also continued to get to the basket at will, either scoring or getting to the line. The Cavaliers went on a 12-2 run late in the quarter to push their lead back 20, behind a pair of threes by Iman Shumpert and a layup by Love. Heading into the final frame, the Cavaliers led 112-92. Love led the way with 40 points and seven rebounds while James chipped in 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists, while Irving had 17 points and six assists.

Fourth Quarter

Lillard started off the fourth quarter on a personal 10-6 run behind a pair of threes to tie Love for the scoring lead at 40 points apiece. While the Cavs couldn’t stop Lillard, none of the other Blazers were involved in the offense, and their poor defense meant that Lillard’s run only cut the Cavs’ lead to 16. LeBron took control by scoring 12 points in the quarter as the Cavs pushed their lead back to 20. Ty Lue cleared the bench with four minutes left, and after some garbage time for Chris Andersen, James Jones, and DeAndre Liggins in which the Blazers outscored the Cavs 14-6, the Wine & Gold improved to 11-2 by virtue of a 137-125 victory that wasn’t as close as the box score looked. Love had 40 points eight rebounds, and three assists, James totaled 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists, while Irving had 20 points and six assists. Lillard led the way for the Blazers with 40 points and 11 assists, while Mason Plumlee chipped in 19 for Portland.

So proud of you my brother! #WhenInDoubtShootIt @ Cleveland, Ohio https://t.co/Ku2BD3i3Ny

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) November 24, 2016

Things I Noticed

HOLY MOSES KEVIN LOVE!!!! There really isn’t much more to say. Love was absolutely on fire to start the game, and his 34-point first quarter will go down as one of the highlights of the regular season for the entire NBA. It’s great to see how comfortable on offense he’s been this year.

Jordan McRae was off the bench ahead of Mike Dunleavy Jr. for the second time in the last three games. This was a bit of a surprising move considering how high the Cavaliers were on Dunleavy when they traded for him, as well as the production of both men. While Dunleavy has struggled to start the year, he’s shot 67% from the field and 50% from three over his past two games, albeit on just six shot attempts. Meanwhile McRae is shooting even worse from the field than Dunleavy, and was just 1-of-9 tonight in 15 minutes of action. It could be that Dunleavy was getting rest, but that seems unlikely considering the Cavs just had four days off. The Cavs have also been trying to showcase McRae for a trade, but…

As a side note, the Jordan McRae showcase to the rest of the NBA is not going well. Hasn't been since it started.

— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) November 24, 2016

Now it’s entirely possible that Dunleavy is at that Mike Miller/Shawn Marion point of his career where he is no longer an effective NBA player. After all, he’s 36 years old and coming off a season marred by back issues. It’s also possible that Lue sees Dunleavy’s skills as redundant with Richard Jefferson already on the team. That being said, Dunleavy’s NBA pedigree is well-established, while McRae has yet to prove that he can be either efficient or effective at this level. It seems a bit early for Dunleavy to lose his spot in the rotation, especially considering the Cavaliers’ 11-2 record.

Tyronn Lue is simply not doing a great job managing LeBron’s minutes. I know the Cavs have a plan to have James ready for the postseason, but 38 minutes in a game the Cavaliers led by double digits almost throughout seems a bit high.

The Trail Blazers really are terrible on the defensive end. After last night’s game, they are now giving up 109.7 points per 100 possessions this season, dead last in the NBA. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team shoot over 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the line while it’s star player drops 40 points and lose by double digits. No matter how hot the Blazers got at times, the game never seemed to be in jeopardy for the Cavaliers because they knew that they could score any time they needed to.

While on the subject of defense, last night’s game cause the Cavs to fall from 11th to 17th in the NBA in defensive rating. While it’s still early, and last night’s score-fest certainly skews the data, one would like to see the Cavaliers put more of an emphasis on building the kind of defensive habits championship teams need.

Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard are the Eastern and Western Conference versions of on another. Amazing scorers and poor defenders who put the blinders on more often than their teams would prefer. Don’t be fooled by Lillard’s 11 assists tonight, he’s actually averaging fewer assists and more turnovers than Irving this season. The Cavs passed on Lillard in the 2012 NBA Draft, and it’s interesting to wonder how Irving and Lillard would have fit together if things had played out differently.

The Cavaliers are back in action this Friday as they face a Dallas Mavericks squad sporting the worst record in the NBA. Until then, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and GO CAVS!