Cavaliers extinguish the Suns 118-92

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Cleveland Cavaliers (36-5, 20-2 home) returned home on Monday to take on the Phoenix Suns (21-20, 8-12 road) for a Martin Luther King, Jr Day matinee. The Cavs were coming off a three-game road trip where they went 2-1. They completed the trip on Saturday night with a 124-117 over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center. The meeting was the first between the Cavs and Suns this season. Entering the game the Suns held a 71-50 lead in the all-time series. But the Cavs held the edge in Cleveland (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) 33-27. The shorthanded Cavs took down the full-strength Suns 118-92 sending the sellout crowd home happy.

The game was back and forth through the first three minutes with the Cavs taking a 11-7 lead with 8:27 left in the first period on a runner by Darius Garland. The Cavs then went up 14-9 with 7:53 left on a three point jumper from Max Strus. The Suns then scored the next four points to cut the Cleveland lead to one point with 6:45 left. Kenny Atkinson then took his first timeout of the day. With 5:11 left the Suns took an 18-17 lead on a three by Bradley Beal. The Cavs quickly regained the lead on a three by Georges Niang and then Ty Jerome drove the lane to give the Cavs a 22-20 lead with 4;27 left. The Suns came right back to take the lead when Greyson Allen hit a three and was fouled. He missed the free throw, and the Suns led 23-22 with 4:09 left in the opening stanza. The Cavs regained the lead and went up 27-23 when Sam Merrill drained a three from in front of the Phoenix bench. Suns coach Mike Budenholzer took an immediate timeout with 2:40 left. When the quarter ended the Suns scored the last four points and the game was deadlocked 27-27 after one. Leading scorers in the first were Jerome for the Cavs with five points and Tyus Jones and Beal each had five for the Suns. The Suns outrebounded the Cavs 11-10 in the first 12 minutes.

The Cavs took a 36-37 lead with 8:51 left when Donovan Mitchell hit a jumper in the paint. The Suns scored the next five points cutting the Cleveland lead to 36-32 with 8:15 left when Nick Richards drove the lane. Cleveland then scored the next six points to take 42-32 lead with 6:52 left when Garland drained a three. Budenholzer took an immediate timeout to calm his troops. After the timeout Kevin Durant hit a three to pull Phoenix to within seven points with 6:30 remaining in the opening half. The Cavs then went back up by nine when Jaylon Tyson was fouled and hit both free throws with 6:20 left. The Suns cut the Cavs lead to 44-39 with 4:50 remaining when Allen hit two free throws after being fouled by Dean Wade. The Cavs took their biggest lead of the game to that point with 3:53 left when Tyson hit three giving them a 50-39 lead. With 1:12 left the Cavs led 55-44 when Niang fouled Devin Booker. Booker hit both free throws and the Cavs led 55-46. The Cavs’ lead grew to 59-45 when Niang scored in the paint with :46 left on the clock. The half ended with Cleveland up 59-46. Garland led all scorers with 14 first half points. Durant paced the Suns with 13 points in the first 24 minutes. The Cavs shot 47% (21 of 45) in the first half, while the Suns shot 45% (17 of 38). The Cavs shot the same from long range 47% (9 of 19) and the shot 40% (6 of 15). Cleveland also outrebounded the Suns 22-16. A huge change from recent game is the Cavs turned the ball over only three times in the first 24 minutes resulting in no Suns points. The Suns turned the ball over nine times resulting in nine Cavs points.

With 11:19 left in the third Max Strus hit a three to give the Cavs a 62-48 lead and then just 30 seconds later he hit another one putting the Cavs on top 65-48. Then with 10:15 left in the quarter the Cleveland lead ballooned to 67-48 as the Cavs opened the second half on an 8-2 run. With 10:09 left the Suns called a timeout. With 6:55 left on the clock the Cavs led 78-55 when Mitchell hit a three. The Cavs were firmly in control. With 5:18 left in the quarter Strus was called for a foul on Devin Booker which would have meant three free throws for the Suns. Atkinson challenged the call, and it was overturned, and the Cavs got the ball. Durant was fouled with 4:06 left, he hit both free throws and the Cavs lead was down to 16 at 82-66. Tristan Thompson played a long stretch of minutes in the third quarter and played very well defensively, with 1:52 left in the third Merrill was fouled and hit both free throws to give Cleveland an 87-68 lead. With :36.8 left the Cavs’ lead was 90-70 when Mitchell buried a three. Then as the quarter ended Mitchell hit another three and the Cavs were up 23 points with 12 minutes to go. Durant was leading everyone with 23 points after three, Mitchell had 22 leading Cleveland.

Just 2:02 into the final quarter the Cavs lead was 97-70. It was only a matter of time before Atkinson cleared the bench putting in the bench to get some extended time. With 8:01 left the Cavs went up 105-74 on a Mitchell three. With 7:35 left Atkinson took a timeout, and Mitchell was done for the day finishing with 33 points. The five on the floor were Thompson, Ty Jerome, Dean Wade, Merrill and Tyson. With 6:09 left JT Thor and Craig Porter, Jr. entered the game replacing Jerome and Wade. Then with 5:36 left the bench was officially emptied as Emoni Bates made his season debut. Bates and Thor were the only two Cavs who did not score as the Cavs defeated the Suns 118-92.

Mitchell led all scorers with 33. The Cavs had five players, including Mitchell, in double figures. Garland 16, Allen12 and 11 rebounds, Merrill and Tyson each had 10 points. Thompson pulled down 10 boards in 26 minutes which both were season highs for the 2016 Cavs world champion. The Cavs were once again missing Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro as well as Caris LeVert. The Suns were healthy, and Durant led them in scoring with 23 points all in the first three quarters in the losing effort.

The Cavs were outshot by the Suns 46% (36 of 77) to 43% (41 of 95). The Cavs were hotter than the Suns from long-range outshooting the visitors 41% (19 of 46) to 39% (10 of 26). The Cavs soundly outrebounded the Suns 50 to 34. The Cavs took care of the ball very well, turning it over only nine times resulting in seven Suns points. The Suns on the other hand turned it over 17 times resulting in 15 Cavs points.

The Cavs will now head back on the road for two games, first stop will be in Houston at the Toyota Center to take on the Houston Rockets at 8 pm on Wednesday. The Rockets hold the all-time series lead 89-51 and 54-16 in Houston and San Diego where they were located through the 1970-71 season before relocating to Houston..