NBA-Portland blazes trail past off-target Cavaliers

Jan 11 (The Sports Xchange) - CJ McCollum scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, and Allen Crabbe came off the bench for 24 points as the Portland Trail Blazers hammered the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-86 at Moda Center on Wednesday.

McCollum hit the 25-point barrier for the seventh consecutive game, and Crabbe was 9-of-11 from the field as the Trail Blazers (18-23) won a second straight game for the first time since early December.

LeBron James collected 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Love had 17 points and eight boards for the Cavaliers, who lost for the second straight time and are 2-2 on their six-game road trip.

Cleveland (28-10) shot a season-low 34.1 percent from the field, including 9-of-30 (30 percent) from three-point range.

Crabbe bombed in 18 points -- hitting 6-of-7 shots, and 3- of-4 from three-point range -- as Portland went into the half ahead 49-41. Love had 17 points and six rebounds and James 12 points and seven boards for Cleveland at the break.

McCollum scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first six minutes of the second half to propel Portland to a 66-48 lead. The Blazers settled for a 73-61 edge heading into the final period.

The Cavaliers never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way as the Blazers' lead grew to as many as 24.

Portland scored the final six points of the first quarter to take a 27-20 lead into the second.

Crabbe buried back-to-back three-point shots and Moe Harkless followed with a dunk to cap a 15-6 run as the Blazers spurted to 42-26 advantage midway through the second quarter.

The Cavaliers responded with a 13-3 run to draw within 45-39 with 2:40 left before halftime. Portland carried an eight-point lead into the break.