Trail Blazers Hit Low Point as Kemp Revisits Cleveland

Shawn Kemp’s hyped return to Cleveland had a little bit of everything. There were technical fouls, skirmishes and a raucous crowd.

The only thing missing was the Portland Trail Blazers.

Andre Miller scored 18 points, Jim Jackson 15 and the Cavaliers rolled to a stunning 84-58 victory over the Trail Blazers, who scored only nine points in the second quarter, 24 in the first half and made only 28% of their shots.

Rasheed Wallace made only five of 17 shots and Arvydas Sabonis one of 10 as the Trail Blazers’ starters went a combined 13 of 48.

“That was the worst ever,” guard Bonzi Wells said of the Trail Blazers’ performance.

The Trail Blazers’ point total was a franchise low, one point fewer than they scored Feb. 27, 1998, against the Indiana Pacers at Indianapolis.

“If it’s a one to 10, it’s a bad 10,” Trail Blazer Coach Mike Dunleavy said when asked to rank his team’s performance. “I don’t know what else you can do. It went off the scales. We probably set all kinds of records.”

Kemp, meanwhile, made his first appearance in Gund Arena since being traded to Portland last August as part of a three-team deal that sent Brian Grant from the Trail Blazers to the Miami Heat.

Overweight the last two seasons, Kemp was a target for fan abuse in Cleveland, and Cavalier fans didn’t waste any time getting on him. One fan yelled, “Hey, who is this guy?” when Kemp checked in and the crowd booed him each time he touched the ball.

Kemp finished with four points in 20 minutes. It wasn’t the kind of return he had hoped for, but he wasn’t fazed by the crowd reaction.

“It’s not the first time I’ve been booed,” he said.

Kemp’s return seemed to have everyone on edge, and tempers flared in the third quarter near the Trail Blazers’ bench as two fans got into it with some Portland players and coaches.

A Portland team official said some other fans had been flinging food toward Kemp. Arena security quickly escorted the fans out.