Blatt's concerns justified: Cavaliers offer little resistance in loss to Blazers CAVS from B1

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James calls out a play as he brings the ball down court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

(AP photo)

PORTLAND, Ore. – There are more aesthetically pleasing vehicles for LeBron James to choose for delivering a message than his 11 points on 12 shots in a 19-point loss on Tuesday night.

But the message James wanted to send to at least two players -- Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters -- was not intended to be pretty.

James spoke at length following the Cleveland Cavaliers' 101-82 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers about what's wrong with his team. Really, though, what James said afterward was a rehashing of the statement he made by how he played.

James scored nine in an active first quarter and made his first shot in the second. He took just six shots the rest of the night (to be fair to Irving and Waiters, James missed them all) and his last points came at 6:39 of the second quarter. He added seven rebounds and seven assists.

What else was going on at the time? Well, Portland rattled off 31 in the first quarter to Cleveland's 34. Irving and Waiters finished a combined 6-of-28 shooting.

By the third quarter, James was running the offense instead of Irving, occasionally getting into the lane and dishing to teammates. Otherwise, he'd pass from the perimeter. Shooting was option C.

When Damian Lillard, the guy Irving was guarding, went right down the middle of the lane for a dunk to start the second half, James looked at Irving and then at the Cavaliers' bench in disgust. It wasn't the last time.

Lillard scored 27 points. Waiters' man, Portland's Wesley Matthews, scored 21.

"There's a lot of bad habits, a lot of bad habits been built up the past couple years," James said. "When you play that style of basketball, it takes a lot to get it up out of you."

And there it was – the message James delivered on the floor through his actions that he articulated after it was all over. The ball-stagnating, momentum-sapping, me-first offense and occasional defense of the past few Cavaliers teams isn't going to fly now. And James is willing to sacrifice numbers - and even wins, early on – to get that point across.

"I'm trying to do other things, to try to instill what it takes to win," James said. "My mission is not a one-game thing. We have to do multiple things to win.

"I think a lot of people get it misconstrued on what it takes to win, you know just scoring or just going out and trying to will it yourself," he added.

To be sure, this was a lowlight for James' career in terms of scoring. It was his lowest regular-season point total since he scored 11 as a Cavalier back on Dec. 5, 2008. It was just the second time in 12 seasons he was shut out in the second half. He shot one free throw.

After he scored 17 in a season-opening loss to the Knicks last week, both James and coach David Blatt said he needed to be more aggressive. No one was saying that after this one.

"I don't hold him responsible," Blatt said.

Though he didn't associate any names with the "bad habits," deductive reasoning leaves Irving and Waiters as the most likely, or at least the primary, recipients.

The Cavaliers are largely a new team. Blatt is new. James, Kevin Love, Shawn Marion and Mike Miller are new. Love is the only player without a championship in that group and historically struggles on defense, but he scored an efficient 22 points on 14 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds against Portland.

Anderson Varejao has been here forever, but was on the playoff-tested Cleveland teams James led before departing for Miami.

Matthew Dellavedova is a holdover, but he's a back-up guard who doesn't look to shoot.

Tristan Thompson was 4-of-12 shooting, but he does most of his work in the paint with bodies flying at him.

Irving was the best player on Cleveland teams that won 21, 24, and 33 games the past three years; Waiters, the second-best on the last two of those teams. They were a large part of the culture James wants to change.

"A lot of guys that's gonna help us win ultimately haven't played a lot of meaningful basketball games in our league," James said.

Marion agreed with James, saying "we're losing individually right now." He said the "ball is sticking too much" on offense and better defense was needed, too.

James has preached patience in the face of high expectations for the Cavaliers since returning in July. He said what was on display Tuesday in Portland, and through much of this 1-2 start, is indicative of the challenges the Cavaliers face.

A car enthusiast, James likened the process to the time he rebuilt a 1972 Chevy Caprice from scratch. It's frustrating. It takes a while, but, "you'll enjoy it when you see the finished product."

The Cavaliers' three-game, four-night Western swing doesn't get much easier, continuing Wednesday against Utah.

The team might not look like James' shiny, baby blue Caprice by the time it gets back to Cleveland. But someday.

"Hopefully not too long," James said. "It could go on a couple months until we're all on the same page."