(My Sportsbook) - The road-weary
Cleveland Cavaliers earned a victory just two games into their six-game West swing, albeit against the slumping Seattle SuperSonics.
The Cavs rallied for an 87-79 victory in Seattle on Sunday to cease a three- game losing streak, while handing the Sonics their fifth straight defeat. The win was just Cleveland's third on the road this season in 20 tries.
Cleveland snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Sonics, defeating them for the first time since November 27, 1993. The Cavs also halted a 10-game drought in the Emerald City.
Cleveland trailed by five after three quarters, but outscored Seattle 21-8 in the final frame to come away with the victory. The Cavs held the Sonics to just 3-of-17 shooting from the floor in the last 12 minutes.
Ricky Davis scored 22 points and Jumaine Jones added 16 in the win. Jones' dunk with 5:45 left in the fourth put Cleveland ahead for good at 76-74.
"This has been a developmental year," Cleveland coach John Lucas said. "I look at how we finish the game. We normally lose games like that with a young team. We stayed disciplined, we stayed calm. We did the things that we wanted to do We stayed disciplined, we stayed calm. We did the things that we wanted to do to win the game."
However, the Cavs suffered a letdown just one day later, as they were pounded by the powerful Blazers in Portland, 118-94.
Portland controlled the game from the outset and stormed to a 65-42 advantage at halftime. The Blazers pushed their lead to 30 points on numerous occasions in the second half and cruised to the win.
"We didn't get any easy baskets," said Davis. "Tough shots, shots weren't falling, and they were hitting all their shots. A lot of experience on that ball club. Scouting reports are important and it looks like they scouted us to a T. They were running our plays for us."
Davis finished with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting for Cleveland, which shot just 40.7 percent from the floor, while allowing the Blazers to hit a scorching 57.7 percent. Dajuan Wagner sank only 6-of-15 shots for 14 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas made 4-of-11 for nine points.
"They took a way Ricky Davis, he struggled to score along with Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas), and if those guys struggle to score we're going to have a long night ahead of us," said Lucas. "As young as we are, we just have to keep working."
The Cavs finish up their six-game road trip with matchups against Golden State, Denver and Utah before returning to Gund Arena for a three-game homestand.