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CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Dale Davis had 20 points and 15 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a four-game road losing streak by crushing the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-72. The Trail Blazers jumped all over the Cavaliers in the first half and took their first 30-point lead, 82-52, on Davis' final basket with 10:16 remaining. Portland, which led by as many as 33 points, shot 51 percent (39-of-76) while limiting Cleveland to just 35 percent (29-of-83). "That was a pretty good defensive effort," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "The Cavs didn't shoot the ball well. Obviously that had something to do with our defense. They had some wide open shots that they didn't make and it starts playing on you a bit when you miss wide open shots." Damon Stoudamire scored 15 points and Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace added 12 points apiece for Portland, which won its second straight game following a season-high six-game skid. "I thought we did a good job of moving the ball, no question about that," Davis said. "We got it down to Wallace and he forced double teams. We just hit other guys. We made good cuts and the key was just moving the ball and making shots." "Davis was great," Cheeks said. "He had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and early on he set a tone for us." Portland, which kicked off a four-game road trip, handed Cleveland its third straight loss. Cleveland, which scored the first two points of the game on a basket by Zydrunas Ilgauskas but never led thereafter, was paced by the Lithuanian's 11 points. Lamond Murray and Ricky Davis each had 10 points, but they were the only other Cavs to reach double figures. "It's been a long time since we laid an egg like that," Cleveland coach John Lucas said. "I thought we were bad from the beginning of the game to the end." Blazers guard Scottie Pippen scored only eight points but hounded Cavs point guard Andre Miller into 2-of-11 shooting and just seven points. "(Pippen is) long and I think Andre Miller can really post most point guards, but he can't post Scottie, who's 6-8." Cheeks said. "He did the same thing the other night to (Philadelphia's) Allen Iverson when he was playing him. He didn't give Iverson a lot of room and you make the other guys beat you." Portland held Cleveland to 29 percent shooting (6-of-21) in the first quarter, when it jumped out to a 27-13 lead. Davis had 10 points in the period for Portland, which shot 55 percent (11-of-20) over the opening 12 minutes. "Some things happened on the floor that made nothing go right tonight," Murray said. "We are not that kind of a team that can come back from big leads like that." "The first unit set the tone tonight and made our job much easier," Blazers reserve and former Cav Shawn Kemp said. The Blazers, who outscored the Cavs in the paint, 46-26, led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and took a 51-34 lead into halftime. "I think we're beginning to feel sorry for ourselves," Lucas said. "We got to get back to 'we.' That's what happens when you're a bad basketball team. It's gonna be a tough month and we gotta find a way to get going." |
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