Turnovers and Rough Shooting Force Cavs Back to .500

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Still in the midst of their daunting seven-game road swing, the Cleveland Cavaliers took one on the chin in Portland thanks to game-long sloppy play and an opponent who ran them up the floor at any given chance. The result, 24 team turnovers and a 20-point loss to the Portland Trailbalazers, 98-78.

“Mentally, for whatever reason, especially on the offensive end, we weren’t as focused as we needed to be,” said head coach Byron Scott. “I’ve never seen us that flip with the ball, kind of throwing it everywhere like it was a hot potato.”

The startling statistic exists in the form of 15 turnovers coming from the second unit, a group of players who have largely been the reason for the Cavaliers’ other three wins.  Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving finished with 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Fellow rookie Tristan Thompson added 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots off of the bench.

The Wine and Gold did hold their opponent to 41 percent shooting, but took 92 field goal attempts compared to the Cavaliers’ 79. Should-be All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge to score 28 points for the Trailblazers, a team that scored 22 points via fast break.

“That was my message tonight— we didn’t give ourselves a chance to win the basketball game,” said Scott. “That’s a good team over there, and when you turn the ball over 24 times, you’re really not giving yourself a chance against them.”