• With their 106-94 victory over the Blazers, which was the sixth consecutive win over Portland, the Cavaliers are now 8-2 (.800) in games after a loss. The Cavaliers continue on their 11-day road trip, the longest of the season. The Cavaliers are winners of six of the last seven games on the road and their 15-7 (.682) road record is the third best in the NBA. The team is 17-4 (.810) against teams that had at least a .500-record the day of the game and 12-4 (.750) against the Western Conference, including winning seven of their last nine games.
• With a win or loss tonight over Golden State, the Cavaliers will have the third best mark in franchise history after 40 games. The best two records in team history are 32-8 (.800) last season and 31-9 (.775) 20 years earlier in 1988-89. (Elias)
• Against Portland, LeBron James scored 20 points in the first quarter and 31 points in the first half on his way to 41 points on 13-19 (.684) shooting and 3-4 (.750) shooting from behind the arc. He also added 10 rebounds and eight assists. His 31 points was the most in a half by a Cavalier this season and ties his own career best for points in a first half. It was James’ fifth game this season with 40 points, tied for second most in the NBA and third game this season with 40 points and 10 rebounds, the most in the NBA. The last NBA player to have at least 41 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists was James with 43 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists last season versus Orlando on March 17, 2009 in a Cavs 97-93 win at The Q. Since the 2007-08 season, James holds the Eastern Conference’s highest scoring average against the West at 28.8 ppg (2,159 points in 75 games) and is tied for the highest scoring average on the road this season at 30.9 ppg in 21 games (K. Bryant – 30.9 ppg in 13 games). (Elias)
• Against the Blazers, Shaquille O’Neal recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. In his last nine games, O’Neal has scored in double figures each game and is averaging 11.7 points on 40-70 (.571) shooting and 7.5 rebounds.
• The Cavaliers have the Top Two players in plus/minus ratio as Anderson Varejao, and one of the league’s best sixth men and defensive players, leads the league at +336 (+9.1/game) while LeBron James ranks second at +313 (+8.1/game).
• Cleveland is second in the league in defensive field goal percentage at .435, ranks third at 93.8 ppg, and ranks fifth in defensive three-point field goal percentage at .332. Cleveland is joined by the Celtics as the only teams that rank in the Top 5 in each of those three major defensive categories. The team hasn’t allowed an opponent to score 100 points in 15 of 22 road games this season.
• At the same time, the Cavaliers are the NBA’s fourth-best shooting team at .482 and the second-best three-point shooting team at .414 (Phoenix - .416). The team is 25-5 (.833) when they shoot at least .450 from the field, 14-1 (.933) when shooting at least .420 from the behind the arc and 21-1 (.955) when hitting the century mark.
• The Cavaliers are allowing an NBA-low of only 33.7 points in the paint on the season. The Cavaliers have dominated their opponents in the paint this season, holding the largest point differential (40.9 own to 33.7 opp = +7.2 ppg) over opponents in the NBA. The Cavs have held the advantage in the paint in 28 out 39 games this season and are now 26-6 (.813) when they have equal or more points in the paint than their opponent. The team also has the longest streak in the NBA of 13 games where they outrebound their opponents and in that span, have outrebounded opponents by a combined 110 rebounds. Cleveland’s 28 games of outrebounding their opponents are the most in the NBA. (STATS, Inc.)
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