Cavs at Blazers Game Preview

The Cavaliers fresh off a win look to continue the good fortune against the Blazers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are back in the win column, now they find themselves attempting to course correct against the Blazers.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (57-14) at Portland Trail Blazers (32-40)

Where: Moda Center – Portland, Oregon

When: 10:00 PM EST

TV: FanDuel Sports Ohio

Line: Cavs -6.5

Expected Cavs starting lineup: Darius Garland, Max Strus, DeAndre Hunter, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Cavs injury report: Donovan Mitchell – OUT (Groin), Emoni Bates – OUT (G-League), Nae’Qwan – OUT (G-League), Luke Travers – OUT (G-League), Jaylon Tyson – QUESTIONABLE (knee)

Expected Trail Blazers starting lineup: Anfernee Simon, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan

Trail Blazers injury report: Deandre Ayton – OUT (Calf), Robert Williams III- OUT (Knee), Dalano Banton – QUESTIONABLE (Illness), Jerami Grant – DOUBTFUL (Knee), Rayan Rupert- QUESTIONABLE (G League)

What to watch for

Worst Road Trip ever?

After their contest against the Blazers, the Cavaliers will end their hellacious road stretch. Extended road trips, especially those in the west coast time zone, are grueling. The Cavaliers truly paid the price for this trip out west.

To this point, the Cavs have gone 1-3 against middling to lower-level competition with little asterisks to explain the downturn. The offense has looked poor, outside of crushing the putrid Utah Jazz. You can’t say the ship has righted its course simply by beating possibly the weakest team in the league. Now, is beating the Blazers a sign that the team might be back in the driver’s seat? Probably not, however, when you go out and beat the teams you are supposed to beat, it shows a consistency the team has lacked during this West Coast trip.

It’s always tough to predict a team’s postseason outcome based on a small sample size. This is not stopping the media cycle from pouring dirt on the Cavaliers’ casket. Does this poor stretch mean something? Maybe? Does it mean absolutes? No. That leap in thinking is the differentiation that we are seeing in real time.

What should not happen, but inevitably will, is that if the Cavaliers get bounced in the postseason, the pundits will look to this losing stretch as evidence that the Cavaliers weren’t that good.

You can watch the game live with us on Playback.