PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) had 20 points and 11 rebounds before
heading to the sideline late in the third quarter, and the Portland Trail
Blazers routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-70 on Thursday night.
Portland led by as many as 44 points while easily surpassing its largest
margin of victory this season. Gerald Wallace(notes) added 17 points for the Blazers,
who had 29 assists compared to Cleveland’s total of six.
Cleveland, with the league’s worst record at 13-54, made just 21 shots from
the floor in shooting 35.6 percent. Ramon Sessions(notes) had 14 points.
As bad as it was for the Cavaliers, it still wasn’t their worst loss of the
season. Cleveland fell 112-57 at the Los Angeles Lakers in January in the worst
loss in the NBA since Feb. 27, 1998, when the Indiana Pacers beat the Trail
Blazers 124-59.
Before Thursday’s game, Portland’s biggest winning margin this season was a
106-80 victory over Milwaukee on Dec. 20.
The Blazers jumped out to 37-12 lead in the first quarter, when the
Cavaliers shot just 14.3 percent from the floor. Portland’s 37 points matched a
first-quarter season high, while Cleveland’s 12 points equaled its season low.
Portland extended the lead to 54-19 in the second quarter after Aldridge’s
dunk and Rudy Fernandez’s(notes) fast-break layup. It was up to 64-34 at the half, and
Aldridge departed for good with 3:32 to go in the third.
Baron Davis(notes) had three points in his return to the Cavs after missing the
previous four games after the death of his grandmother, Lela “Madea”
Nicholson, who raised him.
Davis joined the Cavaliers in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers in late
February, and Thursday night’s game was just his fourth with Cleveland.
The Blazers, jockeying for playoff position, were coming off a 104-101
victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday that snapped a two-game losing
streak. The Blazers moved within two games of idle Denver for fifth in the
Western Conference.
Cleveland was coming off a 97-93 victory at Sacramento on Wednesday night
that ended a four-game losing streak.
NOTES: The Cavaliers had won the last three games at the Rose Garden, all
with LeBron James(notes). … The Blazers were 0-2 against Cleveland last season.
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Blazers rout hapless Cavs 111-70 (AP)