The Cavaliers have been so dominant over the Western Conference – winning 26 of their last 32 and taking 14 of their last 15 at home, including Wednesday’s win over the Suns – it’s only fitting that Tyronn Lue and his staff will be in Toronto in just over two weeks, leading the East in the 2016 All-Star Game.
The Wine and Gold clinched the Eastern Conference’s best mark with Wednesday night’s convincing 115-93 win over the shorthanded Suns at The Q, and Coach Lue – whose up-tempo offense took hold after intermission – won his second straight game at the helm.
The small forward Lue will be coaching in the mid-season classic – LeBron James, who’ll be making his 12th straight start – was the model of efficiency for the second consecutive contest, notching 21 points on just eight shots – going 7-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the stripe to go with nine assists and three boards.
Kevin Love has put together an All-Star-worthy first half of the season, and he tallied 21 points of his own – doubling up for the 21st time this season with 11 boards, adding four assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots.
The Cavaliers led by five at half, but were unimpressive doing so against a team that came into the game without its top two scorers and having dropped 18 of their previous 21 games, including a double-digit defeat to the lowly Sixers the previous evening.
But Cleveland came out of the locker room on a mission, outscoring the Suns, 32-21, in the period and coasting to the finish line in the fourth.
J.R. Smith was locked-in on both ends all night – going 7-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from long-distance, to go with a game-high four steals and four assists – including a picture perfect alley-oop to LeBron who threw down the massive jam to put Cleveland ahead by 17 points midway through the third.
Cleveland’s bench came up big in Wednesday night’s win.
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