|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Shawn Kemp's hyped return to Cleveland had a
little bit of everything. There were technicals, skirmishes and a
raucous crowd.
|  | | Portland coach Mike Dunleavy draws the first of two quick technical fouls from referee Bernie Fryer that got him ejected in the third quarter. |
The only thing missing was the Portland Trail Blazers.
Andre Miller scored 18 points, Jim Jackson 15 and the Cavaliers
rolled to a stunning 84-58 victory over the Trail Blazers, who
scored just nine points in the second quarter, 24 in the first half
and shot only 28 percent.
"That was the worst ever," Blazers guard Bonzi Wells said.
Portland's point total was a franchise low, one point less than
the Blazers scored on Feb. 27, 1998, at Indiana.
"If it's a 1 to 10, it's a bad 10," Blazers coach Mike
Dunleavy said when asked to rank his team's performance. "I don't
know what else you can do. It went off the scales. We probably set
all kinds of records."
Just a few, and none of them worth remembering.
Kemp made his first appearance in Gund Arena since being traded
to Portland last August as part of a three-team deal that sent
Brian Grant from the Blazers to Miami.
Kemp finished with four points in 20 minutes. It wasn't the kind
of return he had hoped for.
"It's not the first time I've been booed," Kemp said. "I've
been playing for a while, it's not my first or second year. I've
heard a couple of boos in my career."
Kemp's return seemed to have everyone on edge, and tempers
flared in the third quarter near the Blazers' bench as two fans got
into it with some Portland players and coaches.
Dunleavy had just been ejected when the fans, who were sitting
on the baseline and had been taunting Kemp and the Blazers all
night, went too far for assistant coach Tim Grgurich.
Grgurich stepped in while Blazers injured reserve Antonio Harvey
and other players confronted the fans. A Portland team official
said some other fans had been flinging food toward Kemp. Arena
security quickly escorted the fans out.
"Fans are going to root for their team," Wells said. "Guys
can't get into stuff with them."
The Blazers played without Scottie Pippen, who was resting his
sore elbow.
The way the rest of Portland's lineup shot, it looked like their
elbows were hurting, too. Rasheed Wallace was 5-for-17, Arvydas
Sabonis went 1-for-10 as the Blazers' starters went a combined
13-of-48.
"It was probably 90 percent because of us," said Cavs center
Robert Traylor, who banged with Sabonis down low. "We had a hand
in their face. We double-teamed. We gave them a lot of different
looks and that frustrated them."
The Blazers were in a funk from the opening tip. They missed
their first 10 field-goal attempts and finished the half with just
24 points on 8-for-33 shooting from the floor.
"When they get frustrated they feel like they can turn it on
anytime," Jackson said. "And tonight they couldn't turn it on."
The Cavs scored the first six points of the second half before
the Blazers made what would be their last run. They got within 11
points late in the third quarter when Dunleavy was nailed with a
pair of technicals by referee Bernie Fryer with 1:40 remaining and
ejected.
Chris Gatling added 15 points and Trajan Langdon 13 for the
Cavs, who won for just the fourth time in 17 games.
"They got off to a raggedy start and we did a good job of
keeping them back on their heels," Gatling said. "They got
frustrated. They missed shots. They missed open men. We were really
aggressive on defense and that made the difference."
Stacey Augmon, Wallace and Steve Smith had 12 points apiece for
the Blazers, who came in as the top team in the Western
Conference.
Game notes
Portland's 24 first-half points were an all-time low for a
Cavs' opponent and tied a Blazers team mark. ... Cleveland is 13-0
when leading at the start of the fourth quarter. ... With the
Blazers playing back-to-back games, Pippen, who recently missed six
straight games with tendinitis, sat out. ... Pippen, Smith and
Damon Stoudamire dined on barbecue chicken and ribs Sunday night at the
home of Gary Grant's mother, Mary, in nearby Warrensville Heights.
... Kemp came in with 119 personal fouls, tying him for the team
lead with Wallace despite playing less than half as many minutes.
... The Blazers dropped to 20-5 vs. Eastern teams this season.
|
|
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
Kemp gets an earful in return to Cleveland
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Trail Blazers had a rough night shooting and scored a franchise-low 58 points against Cleveland.
avi: 1777 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Mike Dunleavy Official Site
|
