Live Thread: Suns at Cavaliers
2015-03-07The Wine and Gold return to balmy Cleveland looking for their 13th consecutive home win. After allowing 36 first quarter points in the road loss to the Hawks, the Cavaliers will likely come out ready for opening tip. Fresh off a dramatic overtime victory in Brooklyn, the Suns come into town only a game and a half back in the tight race for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
On January 13th, the Suns extended the Cavs’ losing streak to six. It was the first game that the current Cavalier starting five was intact. The Suns and Markieff Morris fought back a tough Cavalier rally to pull out the victory. Since then, the Cavs went bowling, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas were shipped out East, and Brandon Knight made his way to the desert. Knight has struggled with his shot since being acquired via trade. Still, a backcourt with Knight and Eric Bledsoe has the potential to be very good.
The Suns are a tough bunch. P.J. Tucker has traveled the hoops world and has come back with all sorts of international nasty. Both he and Bledsoe have been on a tear lately. They always bring it on the defensive end, but their offensive numbers have ticked up in recent games. The Suns are second in the league in pace. They might not be quite as quick as they once were with the Dragon, but the home team better be prepared to get back in transition.
LeBron and Kyrie combined for 13 turnovers the last time the two teams played. Look for that number to be much lower, especially after the turnover fest in Atlanta. One would hope the Cavs would make ball-security a point of emphasis going forward. Sound off.
Update: Alex Len is out with a sore ankle. Earl Barron will start.
Yep cavs, just stop playing ball. Lets be lazy on defense and just play iso on offense
Ball hugging is in full effect now.
I don’t agree with Blatt putting LeBron back in, they need to learn to close out garbage time without him.
Well he’s certainly not contributing much…
Exactly If they can’t keep a lead in a regular season game how will they do it in the playoffs ?
Refs just swallowing whistles so they can go home sooner…
AC calling out Kyrie as he rightly should.
The Cavs have scored 4 points this quarter.
@BillSimmons Where do you think Kevin Love is gonna live in Boston next season? I see him on Marlborough Street.
Ha! Like he’d go to Boston…
Yeah he’d play in Boston because they are so good. Nice troll job Bill.
Simmons’ weird combination of homerism and clout and largely delusional belief he is still an edgy outsider is troubling. Then again conflict of interest has become business as usual in sports media.
TT is the MVP of this quarter…
Bron should put the headband back on…
Once they get it to 90, they should be okay
Nice passes by LBJ and K LOVE…. TT with the finish!
Bench fail, can’t hold a lead
Our end of the bench blows!
I’m convinced that LeBron and Griffin have convinced Blatt to save Mozgov for the playoffs. There’s no other explanation for this.
Yeah doesn’t make any sense not to play him against this small team.
No need to bring Kyrie and Love back.
Yes… there is… nobody on the floor can score…
And here comes LeBron.
Cavs have not scored in almost five minutes…
I should reverse jinx them more often…
Perk is so bad… I don’t remember him being this bad…
No scoring punch on the second unit without JFJ… Would be nice if Miller or Harris could maybe come in and hit some shots…
Have no idea why he didn’t go to either one of them… and totally right. JFJ makes it work on the second unit.
I’m thinking Kyrie comes in here to give them some scoring.
Good call Arch!
Uh oh… bench is letting the Suns back into this one…
God these International League Pass ad breaks are interminable . . . how many of these Kostas Papanikolau promos do I have to sit through . . .
Perk going to werk… not pretty…
I just realized pretty much everybody on the Sixers who Hinkie didn’t draft are Rockets rejects (Covington, Smith, Robinson, Canaan). What a genius, just grab his old boss’s sloppy seconds and call it a team.
I also like that the Cavs are not just launching 3’s like crazy like they have been doing lately. Cavs shooters need to look to drive the ball from time to time.
crap finish to the quarter by Lebron, just stops playing ………….
I can’t tell if you’re being serious…
RUDY SHOVES THE BIG MAN OUTTA HIS WAY!!!! LOVE THAT DEFENSE!
PERK on the floor!!
I’m switching to the Bucks-Wiz game, see how they are looking
RUDY RUDY RUDY!!! DELLY TREYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
LeBron: For you, the day LeBron graced your village was the most important day of your life . But for me, it was Tuesday.
That was a crazy dunk by Green
Yeah that was a thing of beauty. I think he has had some injuries that took away some of his explosiveness. Wow.
Imagine if he had five fingers on his dunking hand.
On the flip side Hawks are losing to Philly going into the 4th . . . classic trap game.
They are resting Millsap, Carroll and Antic tonight…
Ah, OK. Makes more sense then. I can’t tell whether I want the Sixers to win or lose.
Loved the celebration between LBJ and KLove after that Play of the Year candidate…
Was that behind the back with his LEFT HAND on that touch pass by Love?
Yes it was. I just saw it again. Wow. Ridiculous.
Only reason it won’t be top play is because of the two hole-in-ones at Doral today…
How about these guys… up by 30 and getting on the floor for loose balls… Now get them outta there Blatt so nobody gets injured…
I can’t recall watching a slaughter of this magnitude recently . . . it isn’t just a matter of a team getting hot or cold. The Cavs are annihilating the Suns with ease. If they could always play with this intensity and confidence nobody could beat them.
Exactly. They play with great energy at the Q but they haven’t bring this energy to their road games.
Suns are shooting 25%…
The return of the DEFENSE been the biggest story of the game. That and the BALL MOVEMENT.
PLAY OF THE YEAR K-LOVE BEHIND THE BACK PASS TO BRON 4 DA AND-1 BRINGIN DOWN THA HOUSE!!!!
CtB Karma in the house and representing!!!
cwzagger and TV63 must be having a great time!
AMEN to that EG!!!!!
Oh YES We did!! SO much cooler being there.. Mosgov was an absolute BEAST! His timing on defense was impeccable! He knew just when to torpedo his arms and body at the exact time to disrupt easy lay-up and attacks to the rim. Lebron, Kyrie looked fatigued. Love limped and winced in pain throughout the game. Cameras didn’t pick up on that because he does it when he is behind on the other side going up court. He could use a rest day if the opportunity presented itself. JR was speedy and energized and wanted to entertain the crowd. He… Read more »
They need to bring this intensity to their road games.
And with that sequence the league will notice. Hustling after loose balls in 3rd with a big lead? Cols somewhere is giggling
Maybe PLAY OF THE YEAR!
HOLY COW THAT WAS PRETTY! KLove with the behind the back touch pass!
LBJ has tied Mark Price for all-time Cavs assists according to Fred
That was sloppy awesomeness!
GREAT SCRAMBLIN!!!!!!!
Kyrie tried, but he just couldn’t perfect the Delly mistake lob score…
Kyrie almost had a made lob of his own!
Cavs taking out their frustrations on the hapless Suns…
That JR reverse dunk would have brought the house down…
LeBron looking forward to a 4th-quarter rest tonight.
Time to clear the bench…
Phoenix looks completely outmatched.
Don’t think dragic would have helped either. Mozgov owns the paint.
LBJ has not scored since he removed the headband…
I reversed jinxed him there…
Any body know if Nostradamus predicted this?
20 or bust for Mozgov tonight!
His look of anger cracks me up. He wants to destroy the hoop.
MOZ CRUSH from JR LOB!
The Cavs need to bring this defensive intensity to their road games.
This makes you wonder how the Suns possibly won that game in January…
Love might be as good or better than LBJ on those inside bullet passes…
After a hot start in the first few minutes of the game, the Suns went 5 for 31 the rest of the half.
Most active I think I’ve ever seen Mozilla…
Is James Jones active tonight?
Probably needs a rest… he’s been playing a ton of minutes lately…
Still no headband… this might break Twitter…
Our Centers are 9-11 for 21 points and 8 boards…
Why can’t they play like this in the tough/competitive games. Why does Lebron have to pump the air out of the ball for the first 20 sec of the shot clock in tight games???
ughh sighhh………….. oh how good this team could be….feeling frustrated…
Great segment by the NBATV guys.
Kevin Love has opportunities to get into the paint. He’s choosing not to.
I thought about this during Hawks game. Less pounding on back and better chance to get long rebounds.
Completely agree. He’s got to decide to get inside and demand the ball… especially when LBJ or Kyrie are out…
Delly now a game high +17…
The Suns have no answer for lobs that go in.
Good point… not many players who can make accidental lobs like that…
And the Delly haters have miraculously vanished! He has played GREAT defense compared to last night…. he is BOUNCING BACK!
Happy with the 11 three point shots as well…
Well, that was better… big difference between the Suns and the Hawks, but good to see Cavs moving the ball well and playing great D again…
What an INCREDIBLE response on DEFENSE!!!! LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!
Cavs with 26 points in the paint already…
BEAUTIFUL PASS BY LBJ!!!! TT FOR AN EASY TWO!!!
LBJ let Delly run the offense there as well!
TD pass from Love to JR!
TOUCHDOWN JR SLAM!!!! K LOVE GOING THE DISTANCE!!!
Poetic heave. Just a snap of the wrist. Can’t thank of any player who can do that other than love.
Bill Walton maybe?? There’s another I can’t think of it, but obviously they’re all timers HAHAH!!!