Amazing, huge win especially coming off the choke job in Utah. This was the opposite - the Cavs coming from behind in the 4th and holding it together despite an onslaught from an unstoppable shooter. Wednesday it was Clarkson, tonight it was Lillard, who put 50 on the board with the help of some very friendly officiating.
The Blazers were playing some hyperactive, hyper-intense defense and got called for 27 fouls, but the Cavs kept the turnovers down to 11 and put 119 points on the board. The offense was as good as I've seen this year. With Love and Cedi combining for 2 points the rest of the team stepped up.
Allen was huge with a line of 24/10/6. If we had Allen against Utah it's an easy win. Garland had 20 and 10 with lots of lobs as the Cavs set a season high for dunks. Mobley was tremendous defensively in the 4th quarter while playing with four fouls. Mitchell was hounded and denied the whole game but responded with a line of 26/5/5, including a huge rebound in a crowd late in the 4th with the Cavs hanging onto a lead.
The entire starting lineup was +4 to +10 and combined for 98 of the 119 points. Rubio made his presence felt immediately with 9 points in 10 minutes, plus 3 rebounds and an assist.
Okoro had 11 points in just four shots and kicked in five rebounds and two steals. He had a huge 3-pointer to tie the game at 97 and now has made 11 of his last 22 from deep. He is quietly starting to produce.
Kevin Love, OTOH, missed two uncontested 3's and is now 1 for his last 20. Worst shooting slump of his career by far, I imagine.
I hate how they are refereeing the game. The Blazers, especially Lillard and Grant, were just throwing themselves into defenders and getting two shots every time. Garland threw himself into Nurkic, who was backing away as fast as he could, and Nurkic was called for a foul. The call was challenged and overturned, which I agree with, but call them both ways, OK? Portland was doing that all game.
On one play Grant came down the lane and launched himself at Okoro (I think), who saw it coming and dodged him. Grant landed on the floor and had to throw the ball wildly at the rim on the way down, missing everything. He clearly had no intention of attempting a shot - his target was Okoro, who wisely got out of the way.
On the overturn, the referee used a phrase I'd never heard before - "illegal deviation", ruling that Garland launched himself sideways to initiate contact which is not a natural shooting motion. I think that should be called all the time; the game is being ruined because offensive players attack the defender rather than try to score the ball and the refs are rewarding them.
This game was an ugly foul fest. In total 46 fouls were called. Lillard schooled Okoro and Stevens on the definition of a rip through. Extend your arm in his direction and its a foul because he will rip through every time. Late in the 4th I noticed Okoro guarding Dame with his hands out to his sides rather then reaching in. He got schooled and he learned.
All in all just a superb team performance, especially after they gakked away the Utah game by giving up 13 points in 60 seconds at the end. This win should give them confidence they can overcome a 50-point performance on the road and prevail late in a hostile venue.
