Blazers v. CLE Game Preview (11/4):
Our Last game: v. GSW (11/2/14). After battling to a 1-point lead with the ball and 15 seconds left, 3 Blazers turnovers in 3 possessions coupled with Klay Thompson’s go-ahead floater handed GSW a 95-90 victory at Moda. LaMarcus’ 26 and 13 led the Blazers in his most complete game of the season, but Nic Batum and Dame Lillard continued their shooting slumps to start the season.
Their Last game: (11/1/14) 114-108 OT v. Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers beat Chicago 114-108 in overtime to open a four-game trip Friday after losing 95-90 against the Knicks a night earlier. Lebron James had 36 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals as CLE won its first game (and road game) of the season.
CLE last year + changes to the roster: You know just about everything already…CLE won the lottery for the #1 pick for the 3rd straight year, and after signing LeBron James to a homecoming contract shipped two of those picks to (2014’s Andrew Wiggins and 2013’s Anthony Bennett) to Minnesota for All-Star PF Kevin Love. Additionally, the Cavs hired internationally-renowned coach David Blatt for his first NBA gig. The Cavaliers also made two transactions over the weekend as they waived point guard A.J. Price on Saturday and signed Will Cherry on Sunday.
Injury Updates: Joel Freeland doubtful (Day-to-Day) with ankle sprain; Damian Lillard (probable) with abdominal strain.
Matchups:
PG: Damian Lillard v. Kyrie Irving. Brutal stretch for Dame, playing against Westbrook, Curry and Irving all in the span of a week. He’s uncharacteristically shooting 27% from the field (31% from 3) and only averaging 13.3 ppg.
SG: Wesley Matthews v. Dion Waiters. Wes has started off on one of the best stretches of his career, though the team isn’t following suit. He’s averaging 18ppg and a PER of 20 while playing strong wing defense. Waiters has started off the season in a bit of a funk, averaging 9ppg on 36% shooting. It’s going to be interesting to see how a not-stellar volume shooter adapts when the Big Three are muting most of his volume. Expect that Wes will spend chunks of the game on LeBron, and letting Waiters shoot the Cavs out of the game if he’s given half a chance.
SF: Nicolas Batum v. LeBron James. As always against LBJ, it’s going to be a team effort attempting to limit his damage, and Wes and Nic should take turns guarding the slimmed-down (supposedly quicker) version of the 4-time MVP. Nic has been pretty quiet (passive?) on offense, averaging 5 assists while only 9ppg on 35% shooting. That’s not going to get it done tonight, though Nic is generally better in the type of up-and-down game you’d expect from this one.
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge v. Kevin Love. In the early going, Aldridge has been one of the brighter spots for the Blazers, averaging 25.7ppg and 6.7 rpg. He’s shown a tendency to float away from the hoop, securing only 6 offensive rebounds while shoot 49 jumpers in his 57 shots. Love has taken the opposite approach, completely eschewing the mid-range and shooting 13 of his 31 shots from the paint and 12 more from 3.
C: Robin Lopez v. Anderson Varejao/Tristan Thompson. Year Two of Sideshow Rob patrolling the middle has continued to improve the Blazers’ defense. Klay Thompson posterdunk aside, Lopez has been in the right place most of the time, though showing a propensity early in the season for fouling in bunches and necessitating quick hooks. They’re going to need his presence in the middle tonight against the Cavs. Thompson just keeps on keeping on, averaging 11/8 in 28 minutes with a ridiculous 29% offensive rebounding percentage. If the Blazers fail to box out (as they’ve shown a propensity to thus far this season) CLE could be owning the offensive glass and second-chance points. Varejao continues to show that, when healthy, he's one of the headiest (and scrappiest) big men in the league.
Give-a-Rip (City) Factor—a.k.a. why you should watch: The first look for Portland at a much-ballyhooed and revamped Cavaliers team. Will we see three Olympians come together in a fabulous display of offensive wizardry, or will new coach David Blatt’s systems not yet be running smoothly? Love and Irving vs. Aldridge and Lillard would normally be a balanced matchup, but there’s also the small matter of having LeBron James smiling at you from the wing. Personally, I’m interested to see how many season-ticket holders sold off their seats to bandwaggoning “Cavs” fans at a 5-10x premium. If I hear one “MVP” chant while LeBron’s shooting a free throw…
Current Power Rankings:
RipCityTwo (PtldPlatypus): (2) Lebron. Love. Irving. Need any more be said? Well, yeah--they have star power, and they're very deep too. The only question, really, is how quickly they gel.
ESPN: (2) There undoubtedly will be ups and downs reminiscent of the Heatles' first season together. Yet the fact remains only Chicago, if Cleveland stays healthy, can keep LeBron and Co. out of the Finals. Among the many things he's going to learn about the NBA, coach David Blatt will soon find that life is good in the East.
Covers: (1) No this is not an overreaction to LeBron James' return, but rather a proper reaction to it. Oh by the way, they also added Kevin Love. With holdover Kyrie Irving, they now have three of the top 20 players in the league. Offensively, this team could be all-time great.
Grantland: (Championship Contenders) They are going to be an offensive juggernaut, and any public soft-pedaling of expectations is baloney. They are a contender, especially given their residence in the horrid Eastern Conference, and this season is almost entirely about building an above-average defense in time for the playoffs.
Link to GrandpaBlaze's Prediction Game
Link to MediocreMan's Over/Under Game
Links to other team’s site(s):
Cavs: The Blog
ESPN
Final Thoughts: With weapons at just about every position, the Cavs are rightfully one of the few teams mentioned as contender locks. The Blazers have not looked good in their first 3 meetings, though individual efforts by LaMarcus Aldridge, Wes Matthews, Steve Blake and Chris Kaman have kept the games close through 3 quarters. While the defense has been Top 10-caliber so far, the Blazers will have their work cut out for them on the boards as LeBron and Love are among the NBA’s best at their position in rebounding, and Thompson secured 12 offensive rebounds Friday against Chicago.
Hopefully the Blazers are up for the Cavs’ first trip out west. If they continue to shoot 42% as a team (33% from 3) then this could be a long night, even with the increased focus on defense. If Damian, Nic and Wes can make their fair share of 3-pointers (currently, no Blazer is over 36%), opening it up for LaMarcus down low against Love (or the Nic/RoLo pick-and-roll if the Cavs start Thompson against LMA and Love against Lopez), then this could be a fun night. I’m going with the latter, though perhaps not as optimistically on the offensive side as I’d originally planned.
Portland 108
Cleveland 105
Go Blazers!
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BLAZERS' GAME NOTES 
