January 11, 2010
NBA- Cavs Take Their Sixth Consecutive Victory after Whopping Trail Blazers
By Ally White
After an intense battle Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers took their sixth consecutive victory after beating the Portland Trail Blazers 106-94 at the Rose Garden. The Cavs super star LeBron James was unstoppable as he scored 41 points and 10 rebounds bringing home victory for his team. The Blazers’ Brandon Roy earned 34 points, but with the combined injured players of Rudy Fernandez, Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla and Nicolas Batum, it just wasn’t enough. The Cavs are the leaders of the East Conference with 29 wins and 10 losses.
Entering the first quarter, LeBron James was inspiring as he shot 8 for 8 during the quarter and scored a total of 20 points for Cleveland giving a 5 point lead at the end of the period, 34-29. Lamarcus Aldridge worthily contributed with 10 points for the Trail Blazers.
Cleveland had a run of 12-2 in the first three minutes of the second quarter to take the lead by 14 points: 46-31. Portland reacted with scoring baskets and with 3:16 left, they cut the lead to 10 points. However, James came through again with great shooting, scoring the last 7 points of the Cavs to end the half: 64-49.
Cleveland once again controlled the scoring in the third quarter basically shutting down the Blazer’s offense and cutting through their defense like butter. However, with two minutes left, Brandon Roy and Martell Webster got hot and made a 14-4 run, ending the quarter just four points down: 82-78.
In the last quarter, Cleveland quickly scored 5 points in a row extending their lead once again. The Trail Blazers then responded with 9 consecutive points and tied the score at 87-87 with seven minutes left. Nevertheless, Anderson Varejao scored a jump shot to give the lead again to the Cavs 91-89. From that point on, Cleveland had a 15-5 run in hands of Maurice Williams and LeBron James to close the game, 106-94.
After the game, Trail Blazer Coach Nate McMillan indicated that they lost not only due to LeBron’s fantastic game, but because the team was unable to adjust to LeBron so quickly and shut him down.
"LeBron was just unbelievable the first half. That first quarter, he was pretty much in attack mode. You normally don't make adjustments the first quarter. His 20 points came so fast. He had three possessions where we didn't get in front of him and he was at the rim. Then he hit some threes and, before you know it, he had 20 points. We wanted to double-team, but we couldn't get close to him," said Mcmillan.
On the other hand, Coach Mike Brown spoke of Brandon Roy, who has also an incredible night.
"Roy had a heck of a game. He was tough the entire night. He did a hell of a job keeping those guys in it," stated Coach Brown.
At the end of the game, the best scorers for the Cleveland Cavaliers were LeBron James with 41 points, 19 rebounds and 8 assists; Maurice Williams with 16 points and 3 rebounds; Anderson Varejao with 12 points and 8 rebounds; Shaquille O’Neal with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists; and finally Jawad Williams with 10 points. For the Portland Trail Blazers, the best scorers were Brandon Roy with 34 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists; Lamarcus Aldridge with 18 points and 13 rebounds; Andre Miller with 14 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds; and ultimately, Martell Webster with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
The Cavs next game will be against the Golden State Warriors this Monday, January 11th, while the Trail Blazers will face the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, January 13th.
About the Author
Ally White is a top senior copy writer on NBA games and sports action for the online sports betting site: http://www.instantactionsports.com
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