Love's 34 in the first quarter lead Cavaliers past Blazers 137-125

BY STONE LEXINGTON

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

It’s nearly impossible to overshadow LeBron James. The Cleveland Cavaliers small forward is the arguably the most recognizable active athlete in the world and easily the NBA’s biggest superstar. When he steps on any NBA floor, James is the main attraction and the primary focus of all eyes — on most nights. That wasn’t the case Wednesday night.

The Cavs hosted the Portland Trail Blazers in Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday, and the primary storyline heading into the game was the matchup between All-Star point guards Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard. You’d think that if anything was going to outshine James in the contest with Portland, it would be the Irving and Lillard matchup. Nope.

In only a quarter’s worth of action, Kevin Love stole the show Wednesday night. The Cavs power forward was so on fire in the first quarter, heat could be felt from his shooting hand in the nosebleeds of The Q. Love dropped a ridiculous 34 points in the first quarter against Portland, just three points shy of Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson’s NBA record of 37 points in a quarter.

How hot was Love? He started the game 7-of-7 and finished the quarter 11-of-14 from the field, including 8-of-10 from behind the three-point line. By the time the first quarter ended, Love had reached a season-high in scoring, while he also set the Cavs all-time record for points scored in a quarter. Love’s superb start helped Cleveland secure a 46-31 lead, as the Cavs’ 46 points scored was a season-high for the team in any quarter.

Cleveland kept the momentum from the first quarter flowing into the second. By the time halftime arrived, the Cavs held an 81-60 lead and had connected on 16 three-pointers, the most in a half by a team in NBA history. The 81 points scored in the half was two points shy of a Cavs franchise record, and as you may have guessed, the Cavs (11-2) cruised the rest of the way en route to a dominating 137-125 victory over the Blazers.

“To get 34 in a quarter on this team, it says a lot,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said. “The thing I like about it the most is when he got going, our guys really looked for him.”

In by far his best game as a member of the Cavaliers, Love finished with 40 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

“Every game, we start the first play with Kevin,” Lue said. “He made the little step-back jump shot, and then he made his first couple threes and we just started looking for him.”

James wasn’t too shabby himself Wednesday night, posting the 44th triple-double of his career with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. On the night, James also passed Guy Rodgers (6,917) for 17th place on the NBA’s all-time assists list. Kyrie Irving added 20 points and six assists.

The Cavs moved to 8-1 at The Q this season, where they’ve scored at least 100 points in all nine home games, including four contests with more than 120 points. Cleveland has also hit at least 10 three-pointers in all 13 games this season, which is an NBA record for consecutive games with 10 or more made threes to start a season.

Lillard, who totaled 40 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, did all he could to keep Portland within a respectable deficit, but the Cavs three-point barrage was too much. Cleveland finished the night having connected on 21 of their 36 three-point attempts, an NBA season high for three-point field goals made in a game. Portland never led in the game.

“He’s playing great,” Lue said of Love. “He’s being aggressive when he catches the ball in the post, getting to the free throw line. (He’s) a big post threat for us.”

Love entered the night as one of two players in the league averaging at least 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game this season. Many consider the other player in the NBA with at least those totals as one of the top players in the league, New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis.

Love seems completely comfortable in his role with the Cavs this season, averaging better than 20 points per game. If he continues to play this well through the end of the season, the Cavs could be hoisting their second straight banner in June