The return of LeBron James from nagging back and knee issues wasn't enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers to snap out of their rut. Cleveland dropped their sixth-consecutive contest, this one to the Phoenix Suns, by a score of 107-100.
James looked rejuvinated in his return. Having spent just over two weeks to rest, James looked spry and healthy. Just to punctuate that point, James powered home a powerful slam early on to dispel any doubts.
James went on to score 33 points, grab seven rebounds and hand out five assists on 11-of-18 shooting from the field in 37 minutes of play, but it wasn't enough.
Eight 3-pointers from J.R. Smith also wasn't enough. Smith had 29 points on 8-of-14 from deep and four steals. Smith caught fire in the third quarter, sinking five threes to wipe away most of the Suns' halftime lead.
But it also wasn't enough, as the Suns' offense was simply too much for the Cavaliers to handle. The Suns shot 52.3 percent from the field on the night and attempted 27 free throws.
Headlining the Suns' assault was Markieff Morris, who dropped 35 points on 15-of-21 shooting. Morris torched Kevin Love early on, forcing the Cavaliers to turn towards alternative options. In the fourth quarter alone, the Cavaliers tried Tristan Thompson, James Jones and James on Morris, to no avail. Morris scored 11 points in the fourth to cut short the Cavaliers' furious rally.
Plagued by their inability to defend, the Cavaliers trailed the Suns for almost the entirety of the game. Cleveland surged ahead temporarily in the fourth quarter, but the Suns had an answer each time.
The Suns came up with several clutch offensive rebounds down the stretch that ultimately swung the game in their favor. Center Alex Len secured a tip-in with just under two minutes left to push the Suns lead to four. With 26 seconds left, P.J. Tucker used a spin move to circumvent Jones for yet another offensive rebound and was subsequently fouled. Tucker nailed both free throws to put the Cavaliers away.
It should be noted that both Timofey Mozgov and Love both failed to appear in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers turned to a smallball lineup with James playing at power forward alongside Thompson. Love is the team's leading rebounder and Mozgov was acquired to anchor the defense.
To be fair, Love and Mozgov both struggled. Mozgov landed in early foul trouble and Love's defense was abhorrent. Love finished with nine points and nine rebounds on 3-of-11 shooting, logging a -20 in 27 minutes. Mozgov finished with two points and four turnovers, while not recording a single block. Kyrie Irving finished with nine points on 4-for-14 shooting.
The loss dropped Cleveland below .500, as their record now sits at 19-20. The Suns improve to 23-18, pushing them to three games over the ninth seed.
