Cavs stomp Trail Blazers
Weary Portland fades quickly. Hughes injured, but will be OK
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
(Ken Love/Akron Beacon Journal)
Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas gets tangled up with Portland Trail Blazers Jamaal Magloire (left) and Travis Outlaw at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006, in Cleveland, Ohio.
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CLEVELAND - The Cavaliers won a game Wednesday night, but perhaps more importantly they dodged a bullet.
Behind a routine yet excellent performance by LeBron James, the Cavs squashed an outmanned, youthful and tired Portland Trail Blazers team, 100-87. It earned the Cavs their fourth consecutive victory as they maintained the best record in the Eastern Conference thus far.
Yet it seemed like that result was the secondary positive news of the evening.
Quicken Loans Arena fell silent midway through the second quarter as Larry Hughes writhed in pain on the floor. Blazers swingman Martell Webster had fallen on Hughes from behind, trapping his right leg as he crashed to the deck.
Of course, most fans need no refresher of last season when a broken finger robbed Hughes of 45 games, further extending his reputation for being injury prone.
But by the third quarter, Hughes was back on the bench, albeit wrapped in ice, and the medical team issued a report that relieved the team and the fans. In an unusual move, the Cavs flashed Hughes' condition on the scoreboard with the description: ``Not considered serious.''
It turned out Webster had missed Hughes' ankle and instead rolled on his lower leg, causing a contusion.
``It hurt, but it was just the initial shock of it, it got tight and I wanted to stay down until it calmed down,'' Hughes said. ``I was able to get my leg out a little bit before he completely came down on it.''
Hughes' status will be better known today after he sleeps on it, but he said he was hopeful he'd be able to play Friday when the Cavs host the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As for the game, the Cavs took advantage of some circumstances in their favor. They were catching the Blazers off a tough back-to-back. The Blazers lost in Minnesota on Tuesday and didn't arrive at their hotel until the wee hours. They also were missing four key players due to injury, including Joel Przybilla and super rookie Brandon Roy. It also bears mentioning the Cavs overall have significantly more talent and experience, which always helps.
It sort of played out how that script would indicate, with the Cavs taking a safe lead into halftime and then blowing it open in the second half to cruise to their fourth home win in five tries.
James had 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and did it with just 15 shots. He really went into attack mode in the third quarter, scoring eight points on a 10-0 Cavs' run that pushed the lead to 20 points and broke the Blazers' spirits. He had a dunk, a 3-pointer and a 3-point play in which he absorbed contact and banked in a shot while falling backwards into a summersault during the spurt.
``He looked like the All-Star, the Olympian he is right now,'' said Blazers coach Nate McMillan, who coached James during the summer with Team USA. ``At times he overpowered us.''
Drew Gooden and Eric Snow, two Cavs who have struggled offensively recently, picked it up in Hughes' absence. Gooden had 17 points and six rebounds and Snow delivered a season-high 13 points. Gooden also had the responsibility of dealing with Blazers' star Zach Randolph, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds despite being double-teamed all night.
```Randolph's a load and he's active and they look for him every possession,'' Gooden said. ``On offense the ball was coming to me and it was up to me to finish so that is what I was doing.''
Dribbles
Rookie Daniel Gibson received his first playing time and got an assist, but rolled his left ankle in the final minute. It isn't serious.... No. 2 overall draft pick and Gibson's former Texas teammate LaMarcus Aldridge had his best game so far with 13 points and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers.... Donyell Marshall had eight points and eight rebounds but he's 0-of-8 on 3-pointers since spraining his left wrist last week.... The Cavs had a season-high 20 turnovers, but nine came in the fourth quarter.
