Cavaliers pound Suns 115-93
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns, the Cleveland Cavaliers showed inklings of the team they could become under new head coach Tyronn Lue. Through two quarters, the Cavs played down to the level of the struggling Suns, but ultimately used a crippling second half surge to cruise to a 115-93 victory in Quicken Loans Arena.
“I think we got stops and we just pushed the ball,” Cavs power forward Kevin Love said on the difference from the first half to the second. “You could see in the open floor, we were pretty devastating.”
The subpar Suns (14-33) battled Cleveland (32-12) in the first half. The Cavs held a slim 55-50 at halftime, but opened the second half with a flurry of buckets that put considerable distance between themselves and Phoenix. Cavs shooting guard J.R. Smith opened the third quarter with a bucket, followed by a Love three-pointer, a Smith alley-oop off the backboard to LeBron James for a dunk and another Love three-pointer. When Smith converted a layup less than 30 seconds later, the Cavs were up 67-50 with 9:11 remaining in the third quarter. Cleveland led 87-71 heading into the fourth quarter, and pulled away in the final period en route to the 28-point victory.
“I thought we made some shots tonight, especially in the second half,” Lue said. “I thought the first half we still played slow — It was lethargic and we couldn’t quite get it together. I thought a lot guys were thinking because of the new offense and stuff we’re trying to put in.”
Cleveland’s offense was clicking against the Suns, totaling 34 assists on 45 made buckets. The Cavs entered Wednesday averaging 10.0 triples per game, good for the 5th-most in the NBA. Cleveland kept that trend alive Wednesday night, converting 11 of their 28 attempted three-pointers against Phoenix. The Cavs bench also chipped-in 42 points, led by Richard Jefferson’s 14 and Timofey Mozgov’s 10 points.
Love and James each scored a game-high 21 points, James adding nine assists to his point total while Love recorded his 21st double-double of the season with 11 rebounds to go with his point total. Smith finished 4-of-6 from three-point range and totaled 18 points, three rebounds and four assists.
Six Suns finished with double figures in scoring, led by rookie Devin Booker’s 16 points. P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris totaled 13 points each.
“I thought we played well that first half,” Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said. “We were hanging in the game. They started to put pressure on us in that first half and we handled it well, then stopped the minute they scored 11 straight times in the second quarter to take the lead.
“Then the third quarter, obviously you can’t turn the ball over the first four times down the court and they converted with layups. Turnovers are a killer against a good team.”
The Cavs improved their record to 26-6 in their last 32 regular season games against Western Conference opponents (12-5 this season). Cleveland has also won 14 of its last 15 regular season games over the West at The Q. Immediately after Cleveland’s latest home victory, Lue was named the Eastern Conference All-Stars head coach for the upcoming NBA All-Star Game, despite being an NBA head coach for just three games. The honor is given to the coach whose team has the best record in each conference.
“It’s a tribute to coach (David) Blatt and the players, and the hard work that the assistant coaches put in to get us to this point,” Lue said. “It’s going to be a great honor to represent the Cleveland Cavaliers and have a chance to do this. I know my coaches are excited, and it’s going to be a surreal moment.”
Love had a slightly lighter take on Lue’s selection as East All-Stars head coach.
“He’s won what, 66 percent of his games so far,” Love joked. “That’s a 2-1 record. I don’t think it will be his last time coaching the All-Star Game. As ‘Bron said, we’re happy for him.”
Since he took over for Blatt as head coach last week, Lue is trying to get the Cavaliers to a point where they can compete with the top teams in the NBA, specifically the Golden State Warriors.
“Right now, Golden State is playing at a high level,” Lue said. “With San Antonio being second in the West, second in the NBA and then going to Golden State and get beat the way they did, that just shows that right now, Golden State has everything clicking on all cylinders. Hopefully, we can get a chance to catch up with those guys because they are far out in front of us right now as far as playing basketball.”
Immediately following the Cavs 34-point blowout loss to Golden State last Monday, the Warriors smashed the Chicago Bulls by 31 points and the San Antonio Spurs, which have the second-best record in the league, by 30 points. Understanding the nature of those beatings, Lue came to a realization.
“Knowing we have to get better,” Lue said. “I think a lot of teams have to look in the mirror and see they have to get better also with San Antonio, with Chicago, with ourselves. If we want to win a championship, that’s the team (Warriors) to beat.
“They’re the defending champions and right now, it’s kind of a measuring stick of what everybody is trying to get to.”
In the second half against Phoenix Wednesday, the Cavs showed glimpses of a team that could possibly compete with the Warriors if the two teams happen to meet in the NBA Finals.
POSTED 01/27/2016 22:48
Lake County Sentinel
