Blogs > Cleveland Cavaliers Blog

Find out the scoop on the CAVS from award-winning sports writer Bob Finnan.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Game 10: Cavs at Suns

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (5-5) 101, PHOENIX SUNS (4-6) 90

at U.S. Airways Center
Thursday
RADIO/TV: WTAM/Fox Sports Ohio

WHAT HAPPENED:
Suns point guard Steve Nash has led the NBA in assists in five of the previous seven seasons. He's currently third at 9.6 per game. He finished with 16 points and 15 assists on Thursday, but he didn't dictate the tempo of the game.

That's because Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving picked the perfect time to have his best game as a pro. He had a game-high 26 points, dished out six assists, pulled down three rebounds and had two steals. He had six of the Cavs' 13 turnovers.

Irving made 11 of 17 from the field, 2 of 4 from the 3-point line and 2 of 2 from the foul line. One could make a case that the rookie outplayed the future Hall of Famer.

Cavs center Anderson Varejao was outstanding on the boards. He pulled down a season-high 17 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. He's had 10 or more rebounds in five consecutive games and is now seventh in the NBA with 10.6 per game.

In their previous two games, both losses, the Cavs made just 7 of 44 from the 3-point arc (15.9 percent). They responded in a big way on Thursday by making 10 of 19 from long range. Both forward Antawn Jamison and Daniel Gibson each connected on 3 of 5 from behind the arc.

They were the only other players to reach double figures in scoring. Jamison added 23 points and Gibson 10.


The Cavs are 2-3 on the 7-game road trip.

UP NEXT: The Cavs travel to the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m. Friday.

STARTERS
SF Omri Casspi (6-9, 225) vs. Grant Hill (6-8, 225)
PF Antawn Jamison (6-9, 235) vs. Channing Frye (6-11, 245)
C Anderson Varejao (6-11, 260) vs. Marcin Gortat (6-11, 240)
SG Anthony Parker (6-6, 210) vs. Jared Dudley (6-7, 225)
PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 191) vs. Steve Nash (6-3, 178)
INACTIVE LIST
Cavs – G/F Christian Eyenga, G Mychel Thompson
Suns - none
OFFICIALS
Joe Crawford, Tommy Nunez Jr., Gary Zielinski

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home