var opponent = "suns"; //used in image formatting opponent-dateCode-page.jpg var dateCode = "170119"; var pageSelectorTag = "div" var pageSelectorClass = "article-section" var pageTitleTag = "h4"; var pageTitleClass = "key";
Key: Home Cookin'
After wrapping up a 12-day road trip on Monday night in Oakland, the Cavaliers finally return to The Q – where they’ll play five of the next six, beginning with Thursday night’s matchup with the Suns.
Cleveland went 3-3 on the trip, but weren’t particularly sharp in any game outside of Friday night’s win in Sacramento.
On MLK Day, the Wine and Gold endured their worst loss of the year –126-91, shooting 35 percent from the floor and 27 from beyond the arc while committing four more turnovers (15) than they had assists (11) – the fifth time in their last six contests that they’d done so.
The Wine and Gold dropped the Suns, 120-116, in the second contest of the six-gamer – running their win streak against Phoenix to four straight, outscoring the Suns by 10.0 over that stretch.
The last-place Suns come to Cleveland having dropped three of their previous four, but that one victory was a home win over the Spurs on Saturday night.
Key: Straight to the Point
It’s not quite the marquee point guard matchup that we saw on Monday night, but the battle between Kyrie Irving and Eric Bledsoe – who’s returned from a knee injury that ended his previous season with a vengeance – averaging 20.1 ppg this season and leading Phoenix in assists at 5.9 apg.
Bledsoe – one of just six players in the league averaging at least 20 points, five assists and five boards per game – led both teams in their previous meeting at Talking Stick Resort Arena with 31 points and eight assists, going 12-for-18 from the floor and 4-of-8 from long-range in the loss.
Kyrie was very good that night as well – finishing with 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting and adding seven assists. That win in Phoenix was also Kyrie’s most efficient game of the trip, despite the seven turnovers. Excluding that victory, Irving shot 35 percent from the floor and 29 percent from deep, committing 15 turnovers compared to 16 assists.
Like the rest of his squad, the three-time All-Star is more than ready for some home cookin’ over the next two weeks.
Key: Shooting Stars
There weren’t many bright spots on Monday night at Oracle Arena, but the play of newly-christened starter, Iman Shumpert, and the newest Cavalier, Kyle Korver, were certainly two of them.
In just his third start of the season – second straight on the trip – Shumpert was rock-solid once again, finishing with 15 points and a team-high nine boards, going 5-of-10 from the floor, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Kyle Korver wasn’t far behind, adding 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting, going 3-of-8 from deep.
In the last two games of the trip, Shumpert averaged 15.5 points per – shooting 58 percent from the floor, 55 percent from deep. For Korver, it was 14.5 ppg on 55 percent from the floor, 50 percent from long-range.
The Cavs will need both to be sharp on Thursday night when they face the Suns’ leading scorer, explosive sophomore Devin Booker. The 6-6 shooting guard from Kentucky comes to Quicken Loans Arena on a white-hot tear.
Over his last four outings – including a 28-point performance against the Wine and Gold – Booker is averaging 32.8 points per, including back-to-back 39-point outbursts against the Mavericks and Spurs. In the Suns’ win over San Antonio, Booker went 12-for-22 from the floor, 3-of-5 from deep and 12-for-12 from the stripe.
Key: Fit for a King
In Cleveland’s four-point win over the Suns two Sundays ago, LeBron James notched 12 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, going 6-for-18 from the floor to go with eight boards and a pair of assists, but also tying Kyrie with six turnovers on the night.
James came into the trip on a tear, but even the King is not infallible to the rigors of the road – averaging 18.7 points on 40 percent shooting from the floor, 31 percent from long-distance over the final three games. James, who prides himself on efficiency, was also not immune to the team’s recent bout with the turnover bug – averaging 5.0 miscues per over his last 10 outings.
On Thursday night, he’ll face off against third-year forward T.J. Warren, who’s having his best season as a pro. The former NC State star was very good against Cleveland in their previous meeting, finishing with 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
LeBron will also have to work his way through Warren’s rugged backup, P.J. Tucker, who had a solid night himself against Cleveland 11 days ago, adding 10 points, four boards and a pair of steals – going 4-for-6 from the floor for the Suns.
Key: Board Members Meeting
In his 16th season, Suns big man Tyson Chandler seems to have barely lost a step. Chandler is one of just three players – joining Charles Barkley and Moses Malone to average double-digit boards in their 16th season or later.
The Compton, CA. native has been excellent on the boards all season, and especially over the last two weeks – grabbing at least 15 rebounds in five straight games – doubling-up in two of those contests, including a 10-point, 15-rebound effort against the Wine and Gold on January 8.
Chandler missed the Suns’ previous contest against Utah with the flu, but he should be ready to roll on Thursday night in Cleveland.
In the Cavs’ recent win over Phoenix, Tristan Thompson snagged 10 boards, four off the offensive glass, to go with eight points. Tristan, who finished with a team-best four blocked shots on Monday night in Oakland, ranks 4th in the league with 3.7 offensive boards per contest – having snagged at least four rebounds off the offensive glass in a team-high 21 occasions.