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The Cavaliers roll into March on a major roll having won 14 of 15 including a nasty beatdown of the Knicks and a 4th quarter come-from-behind win in Boston. Next up is a home contest against the Portland Trailblazers, who the Cavs will be playing for the first time this year.
This has been a tale of two seasons for the Blazers as they started 13-28 but have since gone 14-5. However, 11 of those 14 wins were against teams under .500. Their last win against a team over .500 was over three weeks ago, and that was against the 30-28 Kings.
The Blazers are a mediocre team. They are 16-10 against teams under .500 and 11-23 against .500 and over. They have done well against the East (12-5), but they have not played Cleveland, Boston, or New York. They are 15-28 against the West. They are 4-16 against the strongest teams on their schedule; OKC, Minnesota, Dallas, Houston, the Lakers, and Memphis. This will be their fourth game of a seven-game road trip.
Portland ranks 25th in scoring at 110.2 points per game. On the road they're even lower at 107.3. They are not good shooters, ranking 24th in effective field goal percentage, 23rd in 3-point percentage, and 24th in 2-point percentage. Their pace is average and they rank 27th in assists per possession, so they seem to be more of a team that tries to get favorable matchups and go one-on-one like Boston. They are second to last in turnovers per possession. The only area offensively where they excel is offensive rebounding where they rank 3rd.
They love to attack the rim, ranking 2nd in frequency of shots at the rim but 28th in success rate. So despite being third worst in the league at making shots at the rim they keep pounding away. In terms of shooting accuracy they’re 24th at mid-range shots and 21st on 3’s in non-garbage time. If it weren't for all those offensive rebounds their offense would be worse than 25th.
Defensively they’re average, ranking 18th in scoring defense. They do very well at forcing turnovers (7th) and blocking shots (6th), but they are weak on the defensive glass. They are second worst in defensive rebound percentage. On top of that, their leading rebounder, Deandre Ayton, is out for this game.
PG Anfernee Simons leads the team in scoring at 18.6 ppg on 43% from the field and 37% on 3’s. Shaedon Sharp is next at 17.5, Deni Avdija averages 15 points and Jerami Grant 14. Toumani Camara, a second year forward from the University of Dayton, averages 11 points. Ayton, their starting center, averages 14 points and 10 boards but he is out. So is the backup, Robert Williams III, so Portland will be without its top two centers. Avdija and Grant missed the last game and are questionable.
Donovan Clingan, a 7’2”, 280-pound rookie who was the 7th pick in the draft out of Connecticut, will start at center. Drop Reath at 6’9” is the only other center on the roster. Reath is averaging 2.4 points in 28 games.
Shaedon Sharpe, a 6’5” shooting guard, had one of the most explosive dunks of the year last week. I’ve attached a screen shot showing the entire ball was above the box. Sharpe intercepted an outlet pass on the move and had a running start.
The Blazers are not in the same league as the Cavs. They are 11-23 against teams with winning records and they are missing their starting and backup centers. They’re playing their fourth consecutive game on the road. This will be their fourth game in seven days and they play in Philly tomorrow. They may just hold Grant and Avdija out to rest them for a game they actually could win. Philly has lost nine in a row and of course Embiid is not out for the year.
This has been a tale of two seasons for the Blazers as they started 13-28 but have since gone 14-5. However, 11 of those 14 wins were against teams under .500. Their last win against a team over .500 was over three weeks ago, and that was against the 30-28 Kings.
The Blazers are a mediocre team. They are 16-10 against teams under .500 and 11-23 against .500 and over. They have done well against the East (12-5), but they have not played Cleveland, Boston, or New York. They are 15-28 against the West. They are 4-16 against the strongest teams on their schedule; OKC, Minnesota, Dallas, Houston, the Lakers, and Memphis. This will be their fourth game of a seven-game road trip.
Portland ranks 25th in scoring at 110.2 points per game. On the road they're even lower at 107.3. They are not good shooters, ranking 24th in effective field goal percentage, 23rd in 3-point percentage, and 24th in 2-point percentage. Their pace is average and they rank 27th in assists per possession, so they seem to be more of a team that tries to get favorable matchups and go one-on-one like Boston. They are second to last in turnovers per possession. The only area offensively where they excel is offensive rebounding where they rank 3rd.
They love to attack the rim, ranking 2nd in frequency of shots at the rim but 28th in success rate. So despite being third worst in the league at making shots at the rim they keep pounding away. In terms of shooting accuracy they’re 24th at mid-range shots and 21st on 3’s in non-garbage time. If it weren't for all those offensive rebounds their offense would be worse than 25th.
Defensively they’re average, ranking 18th in scoring defense. They do very well at forcing turnovers (7th) and blocking shots (6th), but they are weak on the defensive glass. They are second worst in defensive rebound percentage. On top of that, their leading rebounder, Deandre Ayton, is out for this game.
PG Anfernee Simons leads the team in scoring at 18.6 ppg on 43% from the field and 37% on 3’s. Shaedon Sharp is next at 17.5, Deni Avdija averages 15 points and Jerami Grant 14. Toumani Camara, a second year forward from the University of Dayton, averages 11 points. Ayton, their starting center, averages 14 points and 10 boards but he is out. So is the backup, Robert Williams III, so Portland will be without its top two centers. Avdija and Grant missed the last game and are questionable.
Donovan Clingan, a 7’2”, 280-pound rookie who was the 7th pick in the draft out of Connecticut, will start at center. Drop Reath at 6’9” is the only other center on the roster. Reath is averaging 2.4 points in 28 games.
Shaedon Sharpe, a 6’5” shooting guard, had one of the most explosive dunks of the year last week. I’ve attached a screen shot showing the entire ball was above the box. Sharpe intercepted an outlet pass on the move and had a running start.
The Blazers are not in the same league as the Cavs. They are 11-23 against teams with winning records and they are missing their starting and backup centers. They’re playing their fourth consecutive game on the road. This will be their fourth game in seven days and they play in Philly tomorrow. They may just hold Grant and Avdija out to rest them for a game they actually could win. Philly has lost nine in a row and of course Embiid is not out for the year.
