Final: Cleveland 88, Portland 80

What this league needs is some kind of phony NASCAR-style rule where you get points for leading laps even if it's not the last lap.

Were that the case, the Portland Trail Blazers might have gotten more tangible rewards than they did for three quarters of commanding basketball against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Instead, the got another chapter in a familiar story. Against good teams, and without Greg Oden, the young Trail Blazers have a hard time closing the deal.

Which makes them just the opposite of LeBron James. After a somnolent first half, James set up shop high on the wing and rolled his way to a triple-double, with 24 points (15 in the second half), 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Cleveland's big men were the prime beneficiaries of the assists, as journeyman center Joe Smith finished with 18 points and forward/center Anderson Varejao finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 shots, most of them downhill.

Portland was led by LaMarcus Aldridge's 25 points, while Brandon Roy had 15. But it's the numbers you don't see there that tell the story: The rest of the club managed 40 points -- 10 points per quarter! -- and shot just 32 percent from the floor. Only Aldridge and Roy reached double figures.

Coach Nate McMillan tried staying within his rotation, which was scrambled early on by two quick first-quarter fouls on center Joel Pryzbilla. In the second half, he shuttled forwards and guards in and out in in a futile attempt to find a hot (or at least warm) hand. In so doing, he lost track of guard Steve Blake, who played a very solid three quarters and sat idly watching for the first 10 minutes of the fourth.

Still, Portland led from start until the tail end of the third quarter, and the game was tied going into the fourth period.