The Cavaliers began their six-game road trip with a pair of cellar-dwellers, but neither has proved to be a pushover. By the same token, neither squad has had the firepower to keep with the Big Three, either.
One game after combining for 85 points, Cleveland’s power troika tallied 80 on Sunday night as the Wine and Gold bounced back from nearly relinquishing a 22-point lead to pull away for their second straight win – a 120-116 thriller in Phoenix.
Tipping off the Western Conference leg of their extended junket, the Cavaliers used a big second quarter to take a 16-point lead at half. They extended their lead back to 20 early in the third quarter before the Suns came roaring back – using a 33-13 run to tie the game later in the period.
But Kyrie Irving’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave Cleveland a three-point edge heading to the fourth. In the final period, Phoenix cut the lead to one on four separate occasions but could never get over the hump – with LeBron James dealing a pair of long-distance daggers in the closing minutes to ice the victory.
It wasn’t a thing of beauty on either end for the Wine and Gold. They shot 54 percent from the floor, but allowed the 12-26 Suns to shoot 53 percent. The Cavaliers handed out only 15 assists and LeBron and Kyrie finished with seven turnovers apiece.
But having three superstars can cover a lot of blemishes and, regardless of style points, the Cavaliers still managed to improve to an Eastern Conference-best 28-8 while upping their mark against the Western Conference to 8-2 this year.
LeBron led the Cavaliers, netting 12 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter – going 5-for-7 from the floor in the period, 11-for-17 from the floor overall, including a pair of huge triples, adding eight boards, four assists and a steal. Over his last five games, the four-time MVP is averaging 30.6 points on 56 percent shooting.
Irving followed up with 27 points in the win – going an even 10-of-20 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from long-range, while tallying seven of Cleveland’s 15 assists.
Kevin Love doubled-up for the 23rd time this year and the ninth time in his last 10 ballgames – finishing with 25 points and 10 boards, going 8-for-17 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the stripe.
Tristan Thompson grabbed 10 boards of his own – including four off the offensive glass. Half of Love’s boards were also on that end – as he, Thompson and LeBron combined for 12 of Cleveland’s 13 offensive rebounds.
The Cavs also got solid production off their bench on Sunday – with Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye (who got a nice ovation from the Phoenix crowd) netting 10 points apiece. Cleveland was +10 with Shump on the floor; +13 in Frye’s 18 minutes of action.
The Suns’ Eric Bledsoe led both teams with 31 points, with his backcourt mate, Devin Booker adding 28. Veteran big man Tyson Chandler led both squads with 15 boards in the loss.
After canning 17 three-pointers in their last visit to Talking Stick Arena, the Wine and Gold hit 15 more on Sunday evening – going 15-for-34 from long-distance. There’s a good chance that number’s about to go up – as newly-acquired Cavalier, Kyle Korver, waited in the wings (actually in Cleveland’s locker room) for all participants to pass their physicals so he can suit up for Ty Lue’s squad.
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