Cavs Fall Short in Frustrating Night vs. Blazers

*** Into the first week of December, the Wine and Gold still haven’t quite rediscovered last year’s mojo – falling for the fourth time in their last five outings, including their second straight at home, as Wednesday’s rally fell short in a frustrating 122-110 decision to the Blazers at Rocket Arena. 

Donovan Mitchell continued his early-season onslaught – topping the 30-point mark for the 13^th time this season – and Evan Mobley doubled-up for the third time in his last four games, but the Wine and Gold shot just 25 percent from long-range, got beat on the boards and saw Portland’s second unit outscore Cleveland’s, 46-24. 

The Cavs took an early eight-point lead, but Portland flipped the script before halftime – running out to a 13-point edge and taking a 10-point lead at the break. The Blazers maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the third quarter and most of the fourth. Cleveland tried to rally back – with Evan Mobley’s triple with 2:37 to play cutting Portland’s lead to just five, 113-108, but the Cavs would get no closer the rest of the way. 

“I'm not down on the guys,” said Kenny Atkinson following the loss. “I think my job is to understand a big picture and have perspective. I'm not gonna go into the details of what that perspective is. I think I think we’ve just got some things we're dealing with. And I kind of knew coming into the season that there was gonna be some struggles until we got everybody in their slots. And we've I think we've held our own, with our young guys and Donovan playing like an MVP.”

On the night, Mitchell was 12-for-26 from the floor, but just 3-of-13 from long-range, adding five boards, five assists and a steal. 

Mobley tallied his 10^th double-double of the season on Wednesday, chipping in with 23 points, a team-high 10 boards and a game- and season-high five blocks, one more than the Blazers as a team and his 11^th game with multiple rejections. 

Jaylon Tyson finished with 14 points on an efficient 6-for-9 shooting night, adding seven boards and a pair of assists and De’Andre Hunter rounded out the Cavs starters in double-figures with 10 points. 

Overall, the Cavs shot just 40 percent from the floor, including 13-of-52 from deep, as the Blazers shot 39 free throws to 24 for the Wine and Gold. Portland won the rebounding battle, 54-45. 

Deni Avdija led Portland with 27 points, doing most of his work at the stripe, where he went 16-for-17. Donovan Clingan led all rebounders with 13 and Blazers reserves, Shaedon Sharpe and Caleb Love, finished with 20 points apiece. 

*** The Cavaliers’ second unit was led by Thomas Bryant, whose effort and energy keyed Cleveland’s comeback attempt after intermission. On the night, the 9^th-year big man finished with 14 points in just 13 action-packed minutes off the bench – going 4-of-6 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, adding six boards and a pair of blocks in the loss. 

“I feel like we changed our tenacity in the second half,” said Bryant. “We started playing for each other a little bit more and trying to get stops out there, play with each other, get some scores in transition and try to make it a competitive game.”

*** The Cavaliers wrap up their three-game Western Conference homestand this weekend – welcoming the Spurs to town on Friday night followed by a visit from Jimmy Butler and the Warriors on Saturday. The Cavs get a nice five-day break from there and don’t hit the road again until next Friday, traveling to D.C. for a meeting with the Wizards. The following Sunday afternoon, Cleveland welcomes the Hornets to town.