Tough. Hard-nosed. Defensive-minded. It’s been the blueprint for victory for the Boston Celtics since time immemorial. Tuesday night at the Q, the Cavaliers turned that blueprint against the Celtics in a gritty 95-90 victory. The upset lifted Cleveland to 11-32 on the season; Boston dropped its fourth straight to fall under .500 at 20-21.

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Although the Cavs were only out-rebounded by a margin of 46-40, it felt like the Utah Jazz were securing every important rebound as throughout the game.  Tyler Zeller did his best to help the Cavs on the rebounding front by securing a career-high 14.  

The Jazz have a formidable frontcourt and the Cavs needed to play a near flawless game to compete.  They did not.  The Cavs let the Jazz score 21 fastbreak points on only 12 shots.  The Cavs shot terrible from three point range.  They let Derrick Favors tie his season high with 19 points.  In addition to giving up a lot of fast break points, the Cavs only scored 5 on the night.  

As is a recurring theme for the Cavs, they lose a lot of games where they need to play an almost-perfect game by not even coming close to doing that.  Because of poor play and facing teams with superior talent, the Cavs finished their western conference road trip with a 1-4 record.  

The story of the night was Dion Waiters.  He once again came off the bench and scored 23 points.  On the surface, this does not sound very impressive.  Waiters shot 6-14 from the field and 10-12 from the free throw line.  It was nice to see Waiters not rely on the three point shot or shots outside the paint.  Waiters was attacking throughout the entire game and was rewarded by getting to the free throw line.  Waiters set the tone in the second quarter by having a vicious dunk over Derrick Favors.

The Jazz starting frontcourt of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap is formidable.  What makes them scary is that Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors come off the bench.  While both of them are raw and young, they are legitimately talented enough to be starters on a lot of teams.  The underhanded Cavs frontcourt did what they could, but it proved to be tough without Anderson Varejao.  Tyler Zeller has 13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks and a few drawn charges.  Tristan Thompson had 12 points and 11 rebounds, which was good for his 15th double-double of the season.  

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Damian Lillard may very well wind up the NBA’s Rookie of the Year this season, but he ain’t got nothin’ on his predecessor. In the first meeting between Lillard and 2012 ROY Kyrie Irving, the masked man ran roughshod over the frosh, as the Cavs held on for a 93-88 win over the Blazers at the Rose Garden.

This rarest of NBA rarities—a Cavalier road triumph—ended a four-game losing streak for the Wine and Gold and earned them a measure of revenge for perhaps their most heartbreaking loss of the season. Back on December 1, Portland’s Nicolas Batum hit a buzzer-beating three in double-OT to lift the Blazers over the Cavs at the Q. Lillard was electric that night, too, with 24 points, but he didn’t have Irving to contend with, as Cleveland’s most marketable athlete was out with a broken finger. This time around, Kyrie was primed to make a serious statement. For all the attention Lillard has received, Irving is still the flagship of the new point guard generation, as tonight’s 31 point, 5 assist, 4 steal performance displayed quite convincingly.

Irving didn’t waste any time proving his point, either, draining 6-of-9 shots for 15 points in the first quarter alone, as Cleveland (10-31) jumped out to a 26-21 edge. That lead grew to as much as 19 in the second quarter, as Irving found Tristan Thompson for an emphatic dunk to make it 51-32 with 2:51 left in the half. Portland’s miserable first half shooting (34%) indicated the possibility of tired legs from an OT scrum in the thin air of Denver the previous night. Lillard, in particular, looked a bit lethargic, shooting just 0-for-3 in the first half, as the Cavs took a 53-36 advantage into the break.

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The Cavaliers played perhaps their final game in Sacramento on Tuesday night, and they were generous guests. The Kings, who defeated the Cavaliers in the Q two weeks ago, finished the season sweep with a high-powered 124-118 victory as Cleveland yielded a season high in points. The loss was the third in a row for the Cavaliers, who dropped to 9-31 on the season. Sacramento snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 14-24.

The Kings, who have teetered on the brink of relocation for years, look to be on their way to Seattle for the 2013-14 season (where they will presumably revive the old SuperSonics name and colors.) Even before the team’s fortunes rose in the late ‘90s Sacramento was a leading NBA town, where crowds jammed the Arco Arena on a nightly basis to cheer on a team that more often than not couldn’t get out of its own way.

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