Suns Burn Road-Weary Cavs

Saturday’s contest in Phoenix might’ve been a matter of the Cavs’ five-game road trip – including four games in six nights against the Western Conference’s heaviest hitters – finally catching up to them.

One night after having their three-game win streak snapped in L.A., the Cavaliers ran out to an early double-digit lead over Phoenix. But the well-rested Suns hit the gas just before halftime, were red-hot to start the second half and held Cleveland off down the stretch for the 101-92 decision at the Footprint Center.

J.B. Bickerstaff’s young squad jumped on Phoenix early, taking a 14-point edge with 8:50 to play in the first half. But the Cavs, playing the second half of a back-to-back, seemed to run out of steam and the Sun, who hadn’t played since Wednesday, found their rhythm – closing the second quarter on a 22-4 run and taking a halftime lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Cavs struggled from the floor – connecting on just 40 percent, 32 percent from long-range – and made just seven trips to the line. Turnovers plagued Cleveland on Saturday night, with Phoenix converting 19 Cleveland miscues in 18 points. On the night, the Suns outscored the Cavs on the fastbreak, 24-11.

Realizing his team was fatigued from a rugged week out West, Coach Bickerstaff gave 10 players at least 15 minutes of work on Saturday. In the loss, Cedi Osman led the squad in scoring and Kevin Love in rebounding, both off the bench.

Cedi finished with a season-best 20 points, going 7-of-15 from the floor, including 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, adding three boards, two assists and a pair of steals.

Love grabbed a season-high 12 boards and was one of three Cavaliers with 11 points, joining Darius Garland and Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen was 3-of-5 from the floor; Garland led Cleveland with five assists.

Collin Sexton chipped in with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, but like Garland, he committed six turnovers on the night.

For the first time in his very young career, Evan Mobley struggled to make an imprint – finishing with just two points, his first game under double-figures, on 1-of-6 shooting, adding four boards and four assists.

Devin Booker led all scorers with 27 points, going 9-of-20 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the stripe. DeAndre Ayton doubled-up with 17 points and 12 boards, going 8-of-10 from the floor to go with a pair of steals.

Miss any of the action? Find all the highlights and photos in the Game Tracker.

Collin Sexton splits the defense and gets free in the paint for a two-handed jam in the first half.

The Suns big run at the end of the first half turned the game from a double-digit deficit to a close game at intermission. But they blew the game open – and put Cleveland in catch-up mode – at the start of the third quarter.

Phoenix hit its first six shots of the second stanza and the tired Cavaliers went cold. By the 4:15 mark of the period, the Suns had gone on a 28-8 run and put the game essentially out of reach.

By the Numbers - .740 … Jarrett Allen’s field goal percentage (37-for-50) through the first seven games of the season, good for third in the NBA, behind only Mitchell Robinson and Richaun Holmes.

The fifth-year man from Texas started the season 11-for-11 against Memphis and has had four games since in which he’s missed just a single shot.

Kevin Love, on the Suns’ 50-12 run that spanned the second and third quarters. …

”That – we’ve got to find a way to cut that water off. We’ve got to muck up the game, I don’t know, a couple hard fouls. I don’t have the answers for that, but it’s something that’ll definitely stand out on film. I think we got pressed when they tied the game. And after halftime, we continued to press and you could tell our youth was showing in that way. But I do think there are a lot to teaching points here and we can figure it out.”

Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.

With the Western Conference portion of the five-game trip in the rearview mirror, the Wine and Gold head back east – wrapping up the roadie and tipping off November’s slate on Monday night in Charlotte.

The Cavs come home to face off against Damian Lillard and the Blazers on Wednesday night before getting right back on the road – traveling to Toronto next Friday night followed by a visit to the Big Apple to face the Knicks next Sunday.