Cavaliers extinguish Suns 118-103
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t had the best start to 2016. Entering Thursday night’s matchup with the Phoenix Suns, the Cavs were just 4-4 since the turn of the new year. For a team laced with All-Stars and valuable complementary talent, a .500 record in two weeks of basketball shouldn’t be expected often.
The Cavs’ latest hiccups came during their recent six-game road trip, which the team finished with a 3-3 record. The biggest gulp came at the end of the trip when the Cavs were slaughtered by 35 points in Oakland by the Golden State Warriors.
“I think sometimes you can be on the road for so long, you can kind of get bogged down with one another and the game and everything else that goes along with it,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said. “And we didn’t shoot the ball well this trip also…It’s only natural, but we just got to get back to being who we are.”
Lue attempted to explain some of the issues the Cavs had on opposing courts during the past week-plus.
“I think a lot of it came from our turnovers and shot selection, not making the right plays and right passes at the times when we needed to,” Lue said. “When guys are not expecting you to take those shots, then they’re not getting back on defense.”
A home contest against the Suns (13-29) proved to be exactly what the Cavs needed to get back into the winning column. Cleveland cruised past Phoenix Thursday night 118-103 in Quicken Loans Arena, pushing their home record to 19-3 this season (2nd-best in the NBA).
“We’re back at home I guess,” Lue said as to how his team got back on track. “Being back at home where we play well. We showed video before the game, just showing like who we are, moving the basketball, making the extra pass, finding your teammates and it showed tonight.”
Cleveland held a 29-21 lead at the end of the first quarter and only increased their lead in the second. By the time Cavs shooting guard Kyle Korver sank his second three-pointer of the night with 6:01 remaining in the half, Cleveland’s eight-point first quarter lead had more than doubled to a 47-29 advantage. The Cavs led 59-41 at halftime and never looked back.
Cleveland received solid contributions from several players, led by Kyrie Irving’s 26 points, four assists and two steals. LeBron James nearly totaled a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and 15 assists.
Also Thursday night, both James and Irving were named starters for the Eastern Conference in February’s NBA All-Star Game. James is the only player in the league with averages of at least 25.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and shooting at least 50 percent from the field. Just 24 years old, Irving was named to his fourth All-Star game and is surely seeking his second All-Star Game MVP award.
Against the Suns, Iman Shumpert added a season-high 17 points, while Channing Frye chipped-in 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Kevin Love missed the game against Phoenix with soreness in his lower back after he left Cleveland’s last contest (or lack thereof) against the Golden State Warriors on Monday. Lue said he hopes rest will help Love get back into the lineup sooner rather than later. Thirty-six-year-old James Jones, averaging the least minutes per game on the team (6.6), started in place of Love Thursday night. Jones’ last start came on April 2, 2015.
“I like J.J.’s energy,” Lue said. “I like what he brings to the team as far as us defensively getting into our shows and getting back into covering, the fight and toughness that he brings — I think we need that right now.”
Lue said he thought about starting Korver in place of Love like he did in the second half of the Cavs’ blowout loss to the Warriors, but backed off the idea. In Korver’s first appearance in front of Cavs fans, he received an ovation from the crowd when he entered the game and finished with nine points, five rebounds and two steals.
In place of Love, Jones finished with 14 points, two assists and an unexpected block on Suns center Tyson Chandler, who had a monster game for Phoenix with a season-high 22 points and 16 rebounds.
“At his age, you don’t see guys come in and workout everyday like he does and prepare the way he does,” Lue said of Jones. “Also, he’s always in everyone’s ear trying to keep everyone positive and keep everyone upbeat. The biggest thing for us is just always delivering the right message.
“It’s easy, when guys are not playing, to sit on the bench and ‘yeah yeah, you’re right’. He’s not like that. If something’s not right, he’s going to tell a guy, whether they like it or not. You need guys like that, that are on your bench and also that’s capable and ready to play when you need them.”
With the win over Phoenix, the Cavs have the same record at this point as they did last season, 30-11. All Clevelanders know how last season turned out. Lue was asked if he is satisfied with where his team is at this point in the season.
“We wanted to try to go 4-2 on that road trip,” Lue said. “We knew it would be a tough trip. We ended up going 3-3.
“Early on, we had a good rhythm. I just think now, with guys in and out of the lineup, with Kyrie getting hurt, Kevin being hurt, being in and out, I just think we don’t have the same flow as we had early. So, we gotta get that back. We got to start getting our guys healthy and getting guys on the same page. While doing that, we also got to acclimate Korver, let him get comfortable with what we’re doing and what he’s accustomed to doing also.”
The Cavs head coach further elaborated as Cleveland moved to 16-0 when shooting 40 percent or better from the three-point line (44 percent Thursday).
“I’m pleased,” Lue divulged. “We know we can be playing better, but when you win games that you normally don’t win before in the past and you continue to win those games. We’ve won games where we haven’t shot the ball well. Just keep fighting and digging.
“We’ll figure it out. As of right now, I am pleased. And once we get guys back and healthy, I think we’ll be fine.”
The Cavs have won 28 of their last 32 home games against the Western Conference, but they have another stiff test awaiting them on Saturday when they host the San Antonio Spurs.
POSTED 01/19/2016 23:05
Lake County Sentinel
Photo by Greg Goth