OPENING TIP
The Cavs have been no slouches lately, but they haven’t been the Blazers. This season in the NBA, no one has. The Blazers enter Tuesday’s game with the league’s best record. They’ve won four straight overall and sport a 10-0 record against the Eastern Conference. In their last six games, the Blazers are averaging a whopping 117 points a night. They are, in a word, on fire. Meanwhile, the Cavs have won five of seven and look much more competitive and coherent. A win Tuesday would send notice to the rest of the NBA.
Venue: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland.
TV/Radio: 7 p.m. EST, FOX Sports Ohio/WTAM
PROJECTED STARTERS
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (21-4)C Robin LopezPF LaMarcus AldridgeSF Nicolas BatumSG Wesley MatthewsPG Damian Lillard
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (9-14)C Andrew BynumPF Tristan ThompsonSF Alonzo GeeSG C.J. MilesPG Kyrie Irving
Pregame notes:
• Cavs G Dion Waiters is questionable after bumping knees with teammate Tyler Zeller at practice. Waiters, obviously, would be a huge loss on a night like this. The Blazers have no major injuries to report.
• The Blazers are coming off a one-point win at Detroit in which Lillard hit a buzzer-beating game-winner. Before that, they scored a 139-105 hammer job at Philadelphia. Portland buried a whopping 21 3-pointers in that game.
• This is the second meeting between Irving and Lillard, the past two NBA Rookie of the Year winners. Irving outscored Lillard 30-13 in the first, with the Cavs winning at Portland. The Blazers won at The Q last season in double-overtime.
• Blazers coaches have said the Cavs will provide the toughest challenge on their four-game trip, which ends at Minnesota.
• Former Cavs guard Mo Williams is averaging 9.3 points in 24 minutes off the Blazers bench. Portland is his third team since the Cavs traded him to the L.A. Clippers in 2011. He’s playing well.
• The Blazers are 11-2 on the road. They finished 11-30 on the road last season.
• Lillard is just the third Blazers player to start in each of his first 100 games. That milestone came vs. the Pistons. He joins Sidney Wicks and Dave Twardzik.
