Recap: Blazers 141, Cavs 105 (Welcome Home Old Friend)

In completely predictable fashion, the Cleveland Cavaliers were boat-raced by the superior Portland Trail Blazers 141-105. The Cavs probably lost this game before it even started given the tough overtime loss two nights ago to the Phoenix Suns, along with the reality of all the injuries with which the Cavs are dealing. It was purely a character game for the Cavs, with nothing to glean from the basketball side of things. With that in mind, let’s go into last night’s takeaways…

Game Ball: Jarrett Allen

Everybody loves a good @_bigjayy_ putback!

📺 #CavsBlazers on @BallySportsCLE pic.twitter.com/6bWptHGmjb

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 6, 2021

While JA had a tough matchup against skilled big man Jusuf Nurkic, there’s no question that Allen at least competed on both sides of the ball, leading the Cavs’ starters in plus/minus (+2) and net rating (-0.5) by far. It was really nice to see Allen scrap on the boards with a team high 13 rebounds, and pitching in two stocks in 29 minutes.

Honorable Mention: Dean Wade

“James” Dean Wade turned in a professional performance off the bench, with insanely efficient scoring (18 points on 103.1% TS) and also chipping in five rebounds. The Cavs posted an elite 120.4 offensive rating in the 29 minutes he was on the court. It’s a shame that the ball didn’t find him more because his jumper was on, and he probably showed the best competitiveness on defense among the regular rotation guys.

.@deanwade3232 is a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown and has double-digit points off the bench 🔥🔥🔥#BeTheFight | @cavs pic.twitter.com/bJK0EH1Dhz

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) May 6, 2021

Embarrassing defensive performances: Kevin Love and Collin Sexton

Yours truly is possibly the only Love defender left in Cavs’ fandom and will forever defend him given his résumé, but last night’s performance was truly indefensible. He probably shouldn’t have been on the court last night given his age, game schedule, and recent injury history. But nevertheless, the stat line suggests a player who simply didn’t put any effort into the defensive part of the game. The Cavs posted a laughable 161.4 defensive rating while Love was on the court, granted no Cav really put in a defensive performance worthy of praise and Love was stuck with a lot of non-competitive bench lineups. The two nice things that can be said about Love’s play last night was that he did clean the boards as expected (33.3% defensive rebound percentage) and scored efficiently (64.3% TS). But that simply won’t cut it from one of the most accomplished Cavs (if not, the most accomplished) in the organization.

Much of the same can be said for Collin Sexton, whose defensive performance ought to receive the same type of scrutiny Love’s performance has post-game. Zero rebounds in 34 minutes is completely and utterly unacceptable under any circumstance. The Cavs posted an embarrassing 143.5 defensive rating while Sexton was on the court. Maybe the lack of defense could’ve been justifiable had Sexton performed well on offense, but his offensive performance was mediocre at best (43.6% TS and 18.2 assist ratio on lower than season average usage). There’s a growing pattern in Sexton’s game of being either incapable and/or unwilling to play NBA quality defense, and his offensive game hasn’t yet justified the lack of defense the Cavs are receiving from him.

Quick notes on the Blazers

Goodness, what a masterful performance by Damian Lillard. 32 points on only 17 attempts, nine assists and only two turnovers, and out-rebounded Sexton and Okoro combined to put the cherry on top. Portland is desperate for wins trying to avoid the play in tournament, and Dame did what great players do… refuse to lose. Another bright spot for the Blazers was the play of Jusuf Nurkic. He has been riddled with injuries over the past two years, so it’s a heartwarming story to see Nurkic persevere and get himself back into decent playing shape. Three other Blazers deserving of praise were the bench mob of Carmelo Anthony, Enes Kanter, and Anfernee Simons. The Cavs’ bench was simply no match for Melo and Kanter’s veteran savvy and Simons’ athleticism and energy.

One curious thing to note about the Blazers is the recent report from Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic that Coach Terry Stotts is virtually guaranteed to be fired at the end of the season. While it might be fair to characterize Stotts as an average NBA coach (.513 career winning percentage) he seems to be well-respected around the league and may become a hot commodity this offseason.

Ending on a better note, Anderson Varejão

Now checking in…

Welcome home, @VAREJAOANDERSON! ❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/WvUlQtW3Z5

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 6, 2021

Wild Thing checked into the game with six minutes left, and received a hero’s welcome from the home crowd desperately needing something positive to root for. Varejão delivered, showing all the parts of his game that will forever endear him to the Cleveland faithful. He showed professional effort on the boards and on defense. He showed his unflinching team first approach to the offensive side of the game. Wild Thing embodies what it means to be a Cleveland Cavalier: competitive fire and unselfishness.