This Wednesday, the (10-7) Portland Trail blazers will travel to Cleveland, OH to take on the (11-6) Cleveland Cavaliers. Tipoff will be at 7:00 PM EST inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The Trail blazers are coming into this game riding a three-game losing streak, while the Cavaliers have now won three in a row.

The Portland Trail blazers are entering this game after falling to the Milwaukee Bucks, 119-111. The Blazers struggled on the defensive end of the floor in that game, as they will have to contest more shots in the paint if they want to challenge the Cavs on the road.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are entering this matchup after taking down the Atlanta Hawks, 114-102. The Cavs had it rolling on the offensive end of the floor, as they shot 60% from the field. They will have to stay hot in this one if they want to dominate the Trail blazers at home.

The Portland Trail blazers are currently in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, as they are only one game back from the first-place Utah Jazz. On offense, they are scoring 109.9 points per game and they have shot 46.7% from the floor. This is the 21st most points scored per game, but the 17th-highest team shooting percentage. According to dunskandthrees.com, the Blazers have an adjusted offensive rating of 112.2, which is the 13th-highest rating in the league. Anfernee Simons continues to lead the way for Portland, as he is scoring 22.9 points per game on 42.5% shooting from the field. Damian Lillard is currently out with a calf strain. He will not be back on the court until early December. The Trail blazers are also shooting 37.8% from deep, which is the seventh-highest three-point shooting percentage in the NBA. Unfortunately, they have continued to struggle at the free-throw line. They have only made 77% of their looks from the charity stripe, as this is the 22nd-lowest free-throw shooting percentage in the NBA.
On defense, the Blazers have continued to lock up their opponents. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Blazers have an adjusted defensive rating of 110, which is the eighth lowest rating in the league. They are also surrendering 108.9 points per game and their opponents have only shot 46.5% from the floor. This is the seventh least amount of points given up per game, but the 17th-highest shooting percentage surrendered from the field. Portland has also shown that they will continue to contest shots near the rim and on the outside. They are only allowing their opponents to shoot 35.1% from three, which is the 10th-lowest three-point shooting percentage surrendered in the league. They have struggled to consistently rebound, though. Portland is only averaging 43.1 boards per game, which is the 20th most in the NBA.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have jumped out to a fast start to begin this season, as they currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference standings. They are still 2 games back from the first-place Boston Celtics. On offense, they are scoring 115.6 points per game and they are shooting 48.4% from the field. This is the eighth most points scored per game and the sixth-highest team shooting percentage. According to dunskandthrees.com, the Cavs have an adjusted offensive rating of 115.9, which is the fifth highest rating in the NBA. They have also shown that they can score from anywhere on the floor. They have attacked the basket and they are also shooting 36.9% from deep. This is the second-highest three-point shooting percentage in the NBA, as they have snipers littered throughout their roster. Donovan Mitchell continues to lead the way for Cleveland, as he is scoring 29.8 points per game on 49.8% shooting from the floor. The Cleveland Cavaliers have continued to take care of business at the free-throw line as well. They have made 79.7% of their shots at the charity stripe, which is the 12th-highest percentage in the NBA. They can’t miss out on these opportunities and still expect to win these games.

On defense, the Cavaliers are allowing 108.2 points per game and their opponents have shot 45.6% from the field. This is the sixth least amount of points given up per contest and the eighth-lowest shooting percentage surrendered from the field. They have continued to contest shots near the rim, but their only defensive weakness comes on the perimeter. They are allowing their opponents to shoot 35.8% from deep, which is the 19th-highest three-point shooting percentage given up in the league. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Cavaliers have an adjusted defensive rating of 108.9, which is the third-lowest rating in the NBA. Luckily, they have continued to rebound consistently. They are snatching 44.4 rebounds per game, which is the 13th most. They have to secure the ball after missed shots if they want to keep the Blazers from scoring any second-chance points.