Written by Eric Griffith at Blazers Edge.com
The Portland Trail Blazers picked up their biggest win of the season tonight at the snow-covered Moda Center, defeating the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers 102-86. Allen Crabbe scored 18 of his 24 in the first half to help the Blazers build an early lead, and then CJ McCollum salted the game away by scoring 21 of his 27 points in the second half.
While McCollum and Crabbe thrived on offense, the Blazers defense also excelled against one of the most potent teams in the NBA. The Blazers held the Cavs to just 86 points on a putrid 34.1 percent shooting – both season lows for a Portland opponent. Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, andKevin Love combined to shoot just 14-for-43 (32.5 percent). James did manage a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
“I’m really proud of our guys and how they competed. Defensively it was one of our best games and to do it against a team like Cleveland makes it even better,” said Head Coach Terry Stotts.
The Blazers led nearly the entire way, but Crabbe sparked the Blazers to their first big lead of the night when he hit his first shot with 4:30 to go in the first quarter to cut a three point Cavaliers lead down to one, 18-17.
Over the next 12 minutes, Crabbe would score another 16 points, including four 3-pointers, sparking a 30-12 Blazers run. A Crabbe triple with 4:43 left in the second would give the Blazers a 45-30 advantage – they never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.
Crabbe’s torrid first half was par for the course over the last several weeks. After a rough start to the season, Crabbe has been on a shooting spree hot enough to thaw out the entire Portland metro area – he has shot over 50 percent on 3-pointers since the start of December, and has 24 or more points in three of the last four games.
“I’m just staying aggressive. Teammates are finding me, I’m knocking down shots, moving well without the ball,” said Crabbe in a post-game interview with CSN’s Brooke Olzendam. “We’re doing a good job – our offense is really clicking right now. With the defense being the way it is, our offense is really clicking.”
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