Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Portland Trailblazers

Place: The Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon
Time: 10 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: NBA-TV, WUAB Ch. 43/WTAM 1100 AM

Projected Cavaliers Starting Lineup:

PG: LeBron James
SG: Ricky Davis
SF: Darius Miles
PF: Carlos Boozer
C:  Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Cavaliers Injury Report: SF Ira Newble (right knee patella tendinitis), C Bruno Sundov (right Achilles tendinitis) and SG Dajuan Wagner (right knee effusion) are all on the Injured List.

Projected Trailblazers Starting Lineup:

PG: Damon Stoudamire
SG: Bonzi Wells
SF: Rasheed Wallace
PF: Zach Randolph
C:  Dale Davis

Trailblazers Injury Report: PF Travis Outlaw (patella tendinitis) is on the Injured List. SG Derek Anderson (back spasms), PG Damon Stoudamire (ankle sprain), Ruben Patterson (strained calf muscle) are listed as day-to-day.

Key Matchups:

Rasheed Wallace vs. Darius Miles - In an effort to get promising young PF Zach Randolph into the lineup the Trailblazers have moved All Star PF Rasheed Wallace to SF.  Wallace poses matchup problems at this position with his 6'11 height and long wingspan.  Add to that Wallace's ability to post up as well as shoot the ball with three point range he may thrive at his new position.  The Blazers may be resigned to the realization that Wallace may never become the dominant goto guy his talent dictates but it doesn't lessen the danger he poses.  Miles is the closest Cavalier to Wallace in terms of being able to match his length and athleticism but in the early goings of the season Miles' defense has been subpar at best.  Miles must accept the challenge defensively and not just lose Wallace on the perimeter but battle Wallace in the post since when Wallace does go to the block his game there is deadly.  On defense Wallace may look to lay off Miles and force him to make open jumpers.  Therefore, Miles must step up and shoot the ball with confidence and show on the court the fruits of his so called summer improvement. 

LeBron James vs. Damon Stoudamire - Trailblazer coach Maurice Cheeks has announced that the 5'10 Stoudamire will play the 6'8 James straight up.  The Blazers expect the Cavaliers to post up James but so far that isn't something they have done in their offense.  Portland will double team James during the game if James proves to be too much for Stoudamire.  Doubling James will play into his greatest asset of delivering the ball to the right place at the right time.  James, for his part must remain aggressive as he was in his first 2 games but be aware of handling the ball around the diminutive Stoudamire.  Stoudamire still has good quickness and could harass and pick the ball from James if he isn't careful.  Whomever guards Stoudamire on the offensive end must be wary of his penetrating and keep him in front of them and force Stoudamire to shoot over the top.  The Cavaliers have been burned so far by ultra-quick guards in Bobby Jackson and Stephon Marbury Stoudamire will also pull up at different times for three pointers.  He has range but can be streaky.

The Cleveland bench vs. the Portland bench - Once again the Cavaliers are being out-manned by a deeper Western Conference team bench.  Although bothered by some nagging injuries the Blazers can throw three players who have had success as starters elsewhere in the NBA in PG Jeff McInnis, SG Derek Anderson and SF Ruben Patterson.  Patterson is one the best 6th man types in the NBA providing energy aggression and a defensive intensity.  Not a good shooter but Patterson will run the floor and fill the lanes, get putbacks on rebounds, post up even though he is only 6'5 and occasionally knock down the 15 footer if he is feeling it.  Former Cavalier Derek Anderson is an athletic SG with combo guard skills who can handle the ball, penetrate to finish or find the open man as well as shoot the three although he isn't a great shooter overall.  Anderson is one of the few glue/chemistry guys on Portland who will back off on his game for the greater good of the team.  The team signed free agent C Vladimir Stepania late in the preseason to provide more size and to augment Dale Davis who is a PF by trade but forced to play C for Portland. 

This Blazer bench isn't as talented as Blazer benches of the past but it has players more apt to accept being role players which could make them more effective over the long haul.

       The Cavaliers bench has been a weakness the first 2 games of the season.  Outside of SG JR Bremer the unit is devoid of anyone who can score more than a few points.  Silas hasn't used PG Kevin Ollie much so far leaning on the rookie James to play heavy minutes.  Rookie SF Jason Kapono saw his first action as a pro and scored a quick 4 points in 5 minutes but coach Silas seems reluctant to throw him to the wolves.  C DeSagana Diop is the designated rebounder, shotblocker and hacker whose lack of any offensive skills often has the Cavaliers not throwing him the ball let alone get touches in the post.  Chris Mihm was the backup PF against Sacramento in the opener and was solid but got a DNP-CD the following night as Silas went with PF Jelani McCoy against a more athletic Suns frontcourt.  Silas soon after getting the Cleveland job designated Mihm as a pick-and-pop jumpshooting big man but with injuries to expected key bench contributors Silas may have to use Mihm in the post as he has the best post skills of any big man on the bench. 

The Cleveland bench must hold the fort against Portland and not the have the myriad of turnovers and bad shots that set the tone for a horrible 4th quarter against Phoenix in what was a very winnable game.

When Cleveland has the ball: It's been about LeBron James so far for Cleveland as the rookie has controlled the Cavaliers offense for much of the games and has kept them in those games with his overall stellar play.  Anointed team leaders Ricky Davis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas must step up their play and show the same poise that their younger teammate has shown.  Davis and Ilgauskas are central figures to the Cavaliers success and the team will struggle to get over the hump without improved play and decision making from them especially late in games.

The Cavaliers have been outshot at the free throw line by about three fold by their first two opponents of the season which has really hurt them.  The team must be more aggressive in getting to the basket and not shying away from contact rather than settling for jumpshots playing into the hands of the defense.

When Portland has the ball: The Blazers want to reestablish the inside games of Rasheed Wallace and Zach Randolph which is the strength of their team.  In their opening night loss to Utah Portland got away from going inside down the stretch and allowed the Jazz to come back and steal the game by shooting ill advised outside shots.  Portland is a strong team with the likes of SG Bonzi Wells, Randolph, Dale Davis and Patterson and Cleveland must match their physicality and not get pushed around when Portland goes to their power game.  The Blazers may not have the perimeter athletes of the Cavaliers but they can get out and run like every other Western Conference team. 

Portland is prone to mental lapses and uninspired stretches of play that belie a team with their talent and experience.  They have the ability to blow a team out then promptly let them back into the game and give it away at the end a la their opener.

Game outlook: The Blazers want to atone for their bad loss against a Utah Jazz team they feel had no business beating them.  They sustained some injuries in that game but have had a couple of days for some key players to recover.  Portland's recent history against the Cavaliers show that they either steamroll Cleveland off the floor or lay monumental clunkers with nothing really in-between showing in a snapshot the team's bipolar personality.

Most teams lay eggs on the final game of a road trip but by it being early in season Cavaliers have no excuse for any Getaway Game blues.  It doesn't get any easier for the young Cavaliers facing their third straight Western Conference playoff team but the team must show the same grit that kept them fighting back against Phoenix and Sacramento and use any Portland mental or concentration lapses to get back into the game if they fall behind.