Portland’s going to have to get inside with regularity tonight. Oden must have another good game and LaMarcus Aldridge is doing to need to come up big again in what is a big game for both teams.

The Cavs are without Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace has been suffering from flu. Cleveland does everything well, including play defense. This is not the game for Portland to be firing random jump shots from all over the place. Penetration and post play are key.

Oden must stay on the floor and out of foul trouble, which will be difficult because Lebron is going to penetrate and be right there for Oden to hack at. And when Oden goes up to block a Lebron shot, if there’s contact, I’m afraid we know which way THAT call is going to go most of the time.

Cleveland has lost two out of three, which may not be a good thing. The Cavs are too good for a major losing spell and will be looking to turn things around, now that Orlando has wrestled the East’s best record from them. Portland has had a tough time getting to 10 games over .500 and has to start making a push in what is mostly the easiest part of its schedule.

This is a bit of a statement game for Portland, like the Boston game was. You want to win at home against the very best teams, to show you belong in the upper echelon.

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