Game 24: Cleveland Cavaliers 104, Portland Trail Blazers 99

Brandon Roy and the Trail Blazers went into Cleveland tonight and gave the Cavaliers everything they had, unfortunately it wasn't enough as the the Cavs covered a nine-point half time deficit, outlasting Portland 104-99.

In what was considered by some to be a turning point game for the season, one where our mettle is tested against a good team on the road, The Blazers showed a ton of heart and hustle. For the first time this year, at least that I can remember, the Blazers were constantly working. They stayed in the game even when things could have easily slipped away.

The Good

A huge part of this game had to be the contributions of guys who don't usually produce. Martell Webster began the game hot, scoring 11 points right off the bat. Then, following a critical tweet from me, Juwan Howard went crazy in the second quarter scoring 13 of his 15 points. It was delightful to see everyone busting their tails to try and beat Cleveland.

Andre Miller was also tremendous in this game. It's getting to the point now where Miller is totally outplaying Blake. But no one who matters, seems to see it. Andre looked better than any other time this year—causing chaos, making threes, shooting well, he just does so much more offensively then Blake.

LaMarcus Aldridge was nice on offense, at least when he was aggressive. He had 22 points but seemed to only show up in spurts. I think L.A. needs to be more consistent, call for the ball throughout the game, and show Portland why it gave him the big money this last offseason.

Joel Przybilla was a monster defensively. He frustrated Shaq early on, blocked three shots, took a charge from LeBron James and basically did all the dirty work. Joel seems to be focused on his role again, and I am glad to see him helping out in a major way.

The Bad

I mentioned Martell's hot shooting early in the game, but the problem was his shooting after that. Following the 3-for-4 stretch, he went 1-for-9 to finish the game, missing key jumpers down the stretch that would have gotten Portland right back in the game.

Same old story for Steve Blake too, he was a complete waste of space on the floor tonight. Sure he had eight assists, but maybe three or four of those were actually worth noting.

The rest? He let Mo Williams do whatever he wanted. Blake was also 0-for-4 on the night, scoring zero points and turning the ball over four times. Included in the four turnovers was a critical misstep towards the end of the game that sealed the victory for Cleveland.

The NBA point guard position is for creators or athletes. Blake is neither of those. This experiment with a conservative, nonathletic point guard has to stop. There is no question in my mind that the creator, Andre Miller, should be starting and the young athlete, Jerryd Bayless, should be his back-up. No question.

The Ugly

Anderson Vareflop. This guy drives me crazy. His sole purpose is to irritate and draw fouls from the opponent. The only problem is he is dirty, grabbing and pushing to get what he wants. The refs seem to like him, but when they don't? He goes crazy and complains about every single call.

The ugly part of all this? He torched Portland, especially on the pick and roll. He had a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Portland had no answer for him. It looked way too easy for the Brazilian sideshow Bob look alike. Oh well, perhaps we can throw some defense at him next time, right?