What a wonderful opportunity it would have been to upset the Phoenix Suns on the first leg of the West Coast trip.
With Amare Stoudemire sidelined with a swollen knee, that could have been the opening the Cavs needed. But it wasn’t meant to be, as the Suns prevailed, 103-92, at U.S. Airways Center.
Despite the Cavs’ starting frontline having their way – LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden combined for 71 points – it wasn’t nearly enough.
Suns point guard Steve Nash was dominant once again. He must circle the two Cavs games every year on Phoenix’s calendar. Last year, he had 36 assists in the two games against the Cavs. On Sunday, he had 30 points, 22 in the second half, and 10 assists. He simply does whatever he wants against the Cavs, who have no one to defend him.
Cavs coach Mike Brown was asked on Saturday how he was going to combat Nash. He said he was going to say some extra prayers and that he didn’t know how to defend Nash.
The prayer-route didn’t work, and neither did anything the Cavs tried on Sunday. The Cavs dropped their ninth consecutive game in Phoenix. Next in line is the defenseless Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
They are 0-3 and allowed 133 points in a loss to Utah on Saturday.