Hey, everyone! It's A.C., here on the West Coast. What's happening? 

That was a tough loss in L.A. on Monday night. The effort was there, but the Cavaliers simply ran out of gas against a healthy Lakers club. Their frontcourt was a little strong for us - being undermanned. Having Z would have changed the whole dynamic of the game, along with Delonte in the backcourt. We were missing two-fifths of our starting unit, but we still represented ourselves well in the first half.

For the first time this season, injuries have really taken their toll on the Cavs. They've taken away from our nine-man rotation and that's all it is. We're still giving forth a good effort, playing good defense. But a big part of our rotation is missing and you're asking guys that normally don't play big minutes to play big, quality minutes. And it's changing the feel of the game for us. You have to make adjustments to it, but that's tough to do on the road.

To be successful on this trip, they need to keep the turnovers down. We gave up 27 points off turnovers against L.A., and that's usually what hurts you on the road. If we keep the turnovers down, we can execute well enough to get the job done. But we cannot give up that many points off turnovers.

We had three ballhandlers out there in Mo, Delonte and LeBron. Now you only have two. That changes everything because now you only have two guys who can beat opponents off the dribble instead of three. One of those three will always have the opportunity to break you down one-on-one. Now, they can double-team two guys and that's what the problem has been. Teams are double-teaming Mo and LeBron and forcing the other guys to beat them.

Those other guys are simply going to have to step up. I think that J.J.'s playing well. He played well on Monday. He's a quick learner and he's starting to learn the pro game. And he's had his share of Spalding sandwiches. He's starting to hit enough jump shots, he's physical around the ball. But he's learning fast and he's starting to get a feel for the level of competition - and that's a good sign.

I think, overall, the team needs to get used to the new cadence that they have to play with. And I think they can do it.

Again, the Lakers had a great game plan. They attacked us down low and I would imagine Portland will try to do the same thing. But I think we'll make adjustments to it now because we've seen how teams plan to attack us in our current state.

We were fine in the short-term, but as we go through the season - until we get our people back - it just makes it harder. Because we're getting scouted and teams are figuring out how to shut us down. Again, before the injuries, we had three ballhandlers on the floor at the same time, and it's awfully tough to double-team someone more than once in a single possession.

The West Coast can be a tough place to play for any Eastern Conference team. Naturally, the time change affects you and usually your energy level goes down as you get towards the end of the trip. That's why you always want to get off to a good start during a road trip - especially out West. That way, momentum can maybe carry you through the rest of the trip.

Tonight's matchup in Portland will be huge in that respect. It should be a good one at the Rose Garden and I expect to see a hungry team on Wednesday night.