Cavaliers smack the Suns 120-95
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
Are the Cleveland Cavaliers beginning to finally hit their stride this season? If so, now would be the ideal time to do it.
The Cavs clinched their fourth-straight playoff berth this week, and all postseason-eligible teams want to play their best basketball as the season winds down. With 10 games remaining on their schedule, the Cavs don’t have many more opportunities to improve before they begin their quest for a fourth-straight NBA Finals appearance.
Cleveland has won five of their last six games, including a come-from-behind victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors. And while two of those triumphs have come against the Western Conference bottom-feeding Suns (19-54), the latest being a …. victory on Friday night in Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs look like a different team in the three games since Kevin Love returned to the lineup from a fractured hand.
The Cavs received additional reinforcements for Friday’s game against Phoenix. Larry Nance Jr. returned to the lineup after a four-game absence with right hamstring soreness, Rodney Hood returned after missing five of Cleveland’s last six games with a strained back and Tristan Thompson returned after a nine-game hiatus because of a sprained right ankle.
Cleveland is still without Cedi Osman (left hip strain) and Kyle Korver (excused absence), not to mention head coach Tyronn Lue, but the Suns posed little challenge to the Cavs on Friday nonetheless.
“We just have to be ready each and every game that we play,” Cavs acting head coach Larry Drew said. “I don’t care who we play against, a team that’s in the playoffs or a team that’s not in the playoffs, everybody wants a piece of us and they understand that.”
In a surprise to many, the Cavs trailed a depleted Phoenix team 27-23 when the first quarter ended. The Suns were without their two leading scorers, Devin Booker and TJ Warren, and looked like they just might hang with the superior Cavs (43-29) early. Then the second quarter came.
After two J.R. Smith free throws tied the game at 33 apiece with 8:35 remaining until halftime, the Cavs made their move. Cleveland immediately put together an 8-0 run, capped by a Kevin Love three-pointer that gave the Cavs a 41-33 lead. When Smith drained back-to-back treys less than a minute later, Cleveland’s lead had swelled to double-digits, 47-35, and the route was on. The Cavs took a 62-45 advantage into halftime, and the Suns never came within single digits the rest of the way.
“When you look at our year and everything that has happened, we have persevered,” Drew said. “To me, that’s a sign of a team that is mentally strong and a team that’s mentally capable.”
LeBron James led Cleveland with 27 points, six rebounds and nine assists. He didn’t step on the floor in the fourth quarter after the Cavs secured a 93-71 lead at the end of three. Love contributed 20 points and six rebounds, while Nance added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Drew said he would like the Cavs to establish a rhythm heading into the playoffs, while also hinting that the team may not rest players in the final few regular season games. What’s at the top of the Cavs’ to-do list during their final 10 games?
“I would say, obviously, getting all bodies back and getting them healthy,” Drew said. “That would be No. 1.”.
POSTED 03/23/2018 22:31
Lake County Sentinel
Photo by Greg Goth
