Garland scores 27 points to lead Cavaliers over Blazers 122-111

PORTLAND — Darius Garland had 27 points and eight assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 122-111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

Ty Jerome scored 25 points off the bench and Evan Mobley had 21 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

Portland’s Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe each had 18 points in the loss.

Cleveland (58-14) has a five-game lead over Boston for first place in the Eastern Conference with 10 games left to play.

Portland (32-41) is 3½ games behind Phoenix for 10th place in the Western Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament.

The Cavaliers were without star guard Donovan Mitchell, who is managing a left groin injury.

Takeaways

Cavaliers: Coach Kenny Atkinson isn’t overly concerned with the Cavs owning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. His main goal is for his team to be healthy and hit their stride come playoff time. “If it’s the first seed, second seed, third seed, I don’t know. Maybe I should be putting more credence into that,” Atkinson said. “But I do think there have been cases where teams have really tried to bust it and you know, really go for a seed, and I’m not sure that’s the right approach either.”

Blazers: Toumani Camara has improved his 3-point shooting in his second season, jumping from 33.7% to 37.8% while taking nearly two more attempts per game. “Last year a lot of fives were guarding him and he took it very personal,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “That shot is legit and it’s real. We depend on that.”

Key moment

Jerome scored 13 of his 25 points in the third quarter to help the Cavaliers maintain their distance.

Key stat

Cleveland outscored the Blazers 64-42 in the paint.

Up next

Portland visits Sacramento on Thursday night to open a five-game road trip.

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CAVALIERS 122, BLAZERS 111

3-Point Goals—Cleveland 12-27 (Jerome 4-5, Merrill 4-6, Wade 1-2, Garland 1-3, Hunter 1-3, Strus 1-4, Mobley 0-2, Okoro 0-2), Portland 17-52 (Thybulle 5-6, Avdija 3-9, Clingan 2-3, Henderson 2-7, Camara 2-9, Banton 1-2, Sharpe 1-5, Simons 1-10, Reath 0-1). Rebounds—Cleveland 41 (Mobley 12), Portland 45 (Clingan 12). Assists—Cleveland 28 (Garland 8), Portland 28 (Simons 8). Total Fouls—Cleveland 18, Portland 15. A—19,335 (19,393)