The Cleveland Cavaliers were able to put up an early fight, but were unable to keep up with the Phoenix Suns in a nine-point loss.
The 1st quarter saw the Cleveland Cavaliers take a surprising 31-24 lead over the Phoenix Suns. At one point that lead grew to 14 early on in the 2nd quarter, but it wouldn’t last. The offensive firwpower from Phoenix was just too much to handle, after leading 42-28 Cleveland was outscored 73-50 over the rest of the game. The Cavaliers managed just 15 and 19 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters while the Suns score 26 and 28 respectively.
Even though Cleveland held an advantage in the made three-pointers department (14-6), the Cavs needed 44 attempts compared to just 26 for Phoenix. Meanwhile the Suns were better at the free throw line making 17 of 27 attempts while Cleveland was only 6-7.
The starting lineup for the Cavaliers did not provide a whole lot in the scoring department as Lauri Markkanen and Darius Garland both had 11. Collin Sexton was just behind them with 10 points while Evan Mobley scored just two and Jarrett Allen only four. The leading scorer for the Cavaliers was Cedi Osman who scored 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Osman made six of his 12 three-point attempts while making just one of his three shots from two. Kevin Love managed a double-double off the bench, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in 20 minutes.
The Cavaliers have now lost two straight games after winning their previous three, averaging 97.3 points per game in wins and 106.5 in losses while allowing 87 points in wins and 117.3 in losses. In terms of long term success, winning in the manner they were was not sustainable. It would not be surprising to see the Cavs continue to use unless they can turn around these trends.
