Crabbe lifts Blazers over Cavs

Whether it was the ankle-breaking crossover or the majestic layups hit from every angle, there was one thing above all else that made us eager to see him back to what makes him so special: the fourth quarter magic. Portland’s 63-point first half is a season high for a Cavaliers opponent, and the Blazers’ 34 first-quarter points tied a season high….

Irving scored 22 points, Smith had 17 and Kevin Love added 16 for the Cavs, who ended a two-game skid.

“We probably can’t throw a quarter in the ocean right now”, James said prior to the game, but the Cavs snapped out of that. “If we do that, we will put us in a good position to win games”.

Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer offered a scathing review of the team’s performance: “The defensive problems stemmed from lethargy, lack of effort and nearly no attention to detail”, he wrote. The loss in Golden State should have helped them out instead of stun them or wear them out.

With the Cavaliers mired in a mini-slump heading into Monday’s matchup in Phoenix, Head Coach David Blatt shook up the starting lineup – replacing Timofey Mozgov with Tristan Thompson.

Portland shot. 461 from the field and. The Blazers won the battle for rebounds (49-42) and points in the paint (44-24) and dished out 28 assists on 41 baskets.

Portland’s offense was as crisp as could be, as they shot 50 percent from the field, 53 percent from long-range and didn’t commit a turnover in the first half.

Middleton, who scored 20 points, hit a 3-pointer with 6:18 left in the third quarter and gave the Bucks their first lead of the game, 68-67. “I was struggling a lot. I missed the last one (before the game-winner) but was lucky enough to make the last one”.

However, what happened last night, good lord that was very bad. Blatt soon removed his starters, and they were not to return.

Portland got off to a 13-4 lead, with McCollum (seven) and Crabbe (six) combining for all the points. It will be the third time he will sit out the second of back-to-back games since his return December 20, and he doesn’t expect the Cavaliers to miss a beat. But they were outscored 34-9 the rest of the first quarter, trailing by 22 points at the end. “There was no reason for it be like it was tonight”. Allen Crabbe led Portland in scoring with 26 points, going 8-15 from the field. The Blazers’ zero turnover first half was their first since the second half of a March 10, 2012 game against Washington….

All this came with superstar Damian Lillard watching from behind the bench missing his third straight game due to injury in his left foot. Portland entered the game having lost eight of the last 10 games.

After a tough win against a Carmelo Anthony-less New York Knicks team on Wednesday, the Cavaliers came in against the Golden State Warriors with their heads high and ready to challenge the National Basketball Association champions. 167 from 3-point range (5 for 30) against the Warriors.

The Suns kept it close and even had a great long three from Brandon Knight to take the lead with 46.6 seconds to go… but the shot was waved off because the refs called a moving screen on Tyson Chandler.