Cavaliers eclipse the Suns 129-113
BY TIM SHIRER
CAVS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - Monday night in San Antonio the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers (19-16, 12-8 home) upset the Spurs 113-101. On Wednesday afternoon in the final game of the 2025 calendar year the Cavs welcomed the Phoenix Suns (19-14, 9-9 road) to Rocket Arena.
Heading into the contest the Suns led the all-time series 72-51, but the Cavs did lead at home (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Arena) 34-27. The Cavs had no trouble continuing their momentum from San Antonio by taking down the Suns 129-113.
With 9:22 left in the first quarter the Cavs took a 9-8 lead when Darius Garland found Evan Mobley in the paint. After a Suns turnover the Cavs took a 12-8 lead when Garland drained a three on a nice pass from Donovan Mitchell with 9:01 left on the first quarter clock. The Cavs run continued to 13-0 when Garland hit Sam Merrill near the top of the three-point line giving Cleveland an 18-8 lead with 7:27 left in the opening quarter. Suns head coach and former Kenny Atkinson assistant Jordan Ott took a timeout. With 3:05 left on the first quarter clock Suns Connor Gilespie fouled Mitchell behind the three-point line, Mitchell hit all three free throws and gave the Cavs a 30-16 lead. Then with 1:22 left and after the Suns couldn’t hit a cruise ship with a shot Mitchell hit Mobley at the other end giving the Cavs a 34-16 lead. After the Cavs defense once again stifled the Suns Mitchell on a fast break at the other end, scored while falling to the ground and was fouled, he hit the free throw and gave Cleveland a 37-18 lead. At the end of the first the Cavs led 37-21. In the opening quarter the Cavs outrebounded the Suns 19-17 and played smothering defense as the Suns shot just 27% (8 of 30) in the first 12 minutes while the Cavs shot 50% (14 of 28). The Suns also turned the ball over six times resulting in five Cavs points. Mitchell led all scorers with 10 points and Suns resident bully Dillon Brooks led Phoenix with eight first quarter points.
Just 12 seconds into the second quarter Mitchell was fouled and was awarded three free throws he made them all and the Cavs led 40-21. With 9:40 left in the first half the Cavs lead was 46-26 and Ott called a timeout. The timeout by out turned out to be a good move as the Suns went on a 12-4 run to cut the Cleveland lead to 12 points at 50-38 Ott’s former boss took a timeout in an attempt to thwart the Phoenix momentum with 7:00 left in the opening half. With 3:04 left the Suns cut the Cavs lead to 57-46 when Devin Booker hit a fadeaway in the paint. The Cavs built their lead back up to 60-46 with 2:13 left when Mitchell found Mobley in the paint. With :07.2 left in the opening half Garland fouled Brooks, he hit them both, cutting the Cleveland lead to 6-54. With just two seconds left in the half after Merrill was assaulted and no foul was called Ryan Dunn fouled Mitchell, Mitchell scored and hit the free throw to take a 67-54 at the halftime break. Mitchell led all scorers at the break with 21 points. Brooks led the Suns with 20. The Suns shot much better in the second quarter 46% (12 of 26) to finish the half shooting 36% (20 of 57) while the Cavs shot 51% (26 of 52). Cleveland also won the battle of the boards 32-28 in the opening half. Turnovers were even as each team had eight. In the opening half the Cavs outscored the Suns 34-16. The Cavs bench also slightly outscored the Suns bench 17-13.
The Cavs looked lazy early in the third quarter and with 9:49 left Booker hit a three cutting the Cavs lead to 75-64. Atkinson took an immediate timeout. The Cavs had to use another timeout because they could not inbound the ball therefore just 2:11 into the second half the Cavs were down to just two timeouts remaining. The third quarter was quickly turning into a nightmare as the Suns cut the Cavs lead to five. Merrill then hit a three and then was fouled by who else, but Brooks, who was called for an offensive foul, it was his second. The Cavs finally responded and with 4:56 left on the third quarter clock the Cavs lead was 88-79 and Ott took a timeout as the Cavs were starting to shift the momentum that had been the Suns the entire third quarter. With :51.5 remaining in the third the Cavs lead was 91-87 when Mobley fouled Jordan Goodwin behind the three-point line. Goodwin hit two of three and the Cleveland lead was at two points. Merrill hit a three with :33.1 and then Garland hit Mobley in the paint with :00.3 left on the clock to give Cleveland a 96-89 lead when the third quarter came to a close. Booker led all scorers with 25 points through three quarters. Mitchell paced the Cavs with 24 points. The only stats that mattered in the third quarter was the Cavs turned the ball over six times resulting in nine Suns points while the Suns turned the ball over only twice and the Cavs could not turn either into points.
The Cavs built the lead back to double digits and with Cleveland on top 102-92 Suns bench boss Ott called a timeout with 9:50 remaining in the contest. The Suns failed to score after the timeout and the Cavs countered at the other end with a three by Mitchell putting the Cavs on top 105-92 with 8:54 left. Then with 8:15 remaining Mitchell struck again with his fourth three pointer of the day giving Cleveland a 110-94 lead. After another Suns turnover due to the Cavs tight defense Jaylon Tyson scored at the other end giving the Cavs their largest lead of the game to that point 115-94. Once again Ott took a timeout the Suns now had only one remaining with 6:50 left in regulation. With 4:08 left on the clock Tyson put any doubt that the Cavs would win the game to rest when he drained a three giving Cleveland a 123-101 lead.
Donovan Mitchell led everyone with 34 points, Booker led the Suns with 32 in a losing effort. The Cavs had six players in double figures and three players in double digits in rebounds (Allen 11, Mobley 10, Mitchell 10) that was the first time that happened since February 28, 2024. The Cavs fell one rebound short of having four guys with double figure rebounds as Cleveland spark plug Craig Porter, Jr. finished with nine boards. The last time the Cavs had four guys in double figure rebounds was April 14, 1993 (Larry Nance 13, Brad Daugherty 12, Tyrone Hill 11, Mark Price 10).
The Cavs as a team shot 50% (48 of 96) from the field while their defense held the Suns to just 40% (42 of 105). The Suns did outshoot the Cavs from long range 42% (15 of 36) to 40% (15 of 38). The Cavs outrebounded the Suns 54-52 and dominated scoring in the paint 56-36. The Cavs bench also outscored the Phoenix bench 39-33. Cleveland also distributed the ball very well, something Atkinson had been focused on as Cleveland had 32 assists in the contest.
Next up for the Cavs will be the Denver Nuggets (22-10, 12-5 road) to town on Friday night. It will be the first meeting of the season between the two clubs. The Nuggets lead the all-time series 54-46. However, the Cavs lead the series in Cleveland (CA, RC, RA) 30-19. The Nuggets will be without Nikola Jokic on Friday as the former MVP sustained a leg injury on Monday night and will miss approximately four weeks of action. Gametime is 7:30 pm.
POSTED 12/31/2025 18:30
Lake County Sentinel
This Space could be yours
Thousands of People Will See it
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
email us for more info at:
Cavs superstar Donovan Mitchell scores 34 points and leads the Cleveland to a 129-113 win over the Phoenix Suns Wednesday afternoon at Rocket Arena. Photo by Tommy Shirer
