The Fighting Kevin Love’s, also known more nationally as the Cleveland Cavaliers, opened the floodgates with 46 points in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers and never looked back. Along the way fans were treated to a LeBron James triple-double (31pts/10reb/13ast) and Damian Lillard going for 40 points, before the final buzzer rang in a 137-125 win.
Recap
Kevin Love came out and set an NBA record for points in the the 1st quarter with 34 points on 8/9 shooting from beyond the arc. There’s in the zone and then there’s full blown “Danger Zone” where the music is blaring and the game is nothing but a montage of made shots. Love was in that kind of zone tonight. The Blazers lone highlight of the quarter was Love finally missed.
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) November 24, 2016
Portland Trail Blazers 31, Cleveland Cavaliers 46
Thankfully Love had to sit at some point, but the Cavs also have these other guys- Lebron James and Kyrie Irving. They stepped up to fill in a Love-sized gap. After scoring 46 points in the 1st quarter they managed to only get 35 in the 2nd. For the first time in a while the Blazers bench closed the gap ever so slightly. With contributions from Turner, Leonard, and Crabbe all helping keep Portland’s offense humming. Portland manages 60 points in the first half and finds themselves down 21 at the break.
Portland Trail Blazers 60, Cleveland Cavaliers 81
More of the same here as Cleveland keeps scoring at will, this time it’s LeBron who takes center stage as the primary scorer. It’s easy to gloss over LeBron’s night after the way Love started but James took over the 3rd quarter and essentially kept the game out of reach. It wasn’t for lack of trying on Lillard’s part though, as he attacked the rim relentlessly- getting to the line and finishing at the cup. Again, Portland’s offense kept the pressure up, but they couldn’t slow down the Cavs. Down 20 after 3 quarters
Portland Trail Blazers 92, Cleveland Cavaliers 112
The 4th quarter didn’t deviate from the script at all. Lillard continued trying to close the gap while the Cavs scored at will. Even with Lillard scoring 40 the Blazers managed to put 5 different players in double figures. Offensively, Portland was putting on a clinic, they shot over 50 percent from the field, over 40 percent from distance and over 90 percent from the free throw line as a team and STILL couldn’t close the to single digits.
Portland Trail Blazers 125 , Cleveland Cavaliers 137
What’s Next
Portland gets Thanksgiving off, but then it’s back to work as they get a quick rematch with the New Orleans Pelicans (Friday November 25th at 7:00 PM PST). Stay tuned for the post game analysis from Eric Griffith, who is surely having a blast right now.