The Cleveland Cavaliers faced a tough task on Thursday night.
They hit the road to meet Damian Lillard and the struggling Portland Trail Blazers, a team desperately looking for a turnaround after dropping four games in a row.
The Blazers gave them a run for their money in their first half, hitting the locker room up by seven at halftime.
That’s when J.B. Bickerstaff’s team hit the ground running and made sure to regain control of the game, scoring 68 points in the final 24 minutes to get a 119-113 win.
Notably, the Cavs’ Big 3 rose to the occasion, with Donovan Mitchell scoring 26 points with five assists and five rebounds, Jarrett Allen dominating the boards with 24 points, ten rebounds, and six assists, and Darius Garland logging a 20-point, 10-assist double-double.
Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were all scoring & playmaking in the @cavs road win 🔥@_bigjayy_: 24p, 10r, 6a@spidadmitchell: 26p, 5a@dariusgarland22: 20p, 10a pic.twitter.com/eIt73xQpnv
— NBA (@NBA) January 13, 2023
The Cavs’ Big 3 has been fairly consistent throughout the season.
Mitchell is the team’s scoring leader, Allen ranks first in rebounds, and Garland is their primary playmaker.
Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert have also chipped in and averaged double-digits throughout the season, so the Cavs have five players averaging at least 12 points per game.
Moreover, the young Cavs have the league’s No.1 ranked scoring defense at just 106.9 points per game, and they just got Ricky Rubio back after a long layoff.
The Cavaliers are just four games behind the Boston Celtics in the race for the first seed in the East, and they’re playing like a team that has nothing to lose.
So, you better not sleep on them, as their Big 3 can go against the league’s finest any given night.
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