While head coach Tyronn Lue appeared frustrated with his team getting complacent in the third quarter, the Cavaliers made the clutch plays late to open the longest roadtrip of the season with two straight wins.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the second consecutive game against one of the NBA's bottom feeders, the Cleveland Cavaliers built a big lead and started "messing around," needing a strong close to avoid what would've been a stunning loss.
"We got two games now where -- Brooklyn really fought against us and played us really hard down the stretch and same thing with Phoenix tonight," Kevin Love told reporters in the locker room following a 120-116 win against the Phoenix Suns. "We figure we will see that the rest of this roadtrip."
While head coach Tyronn Lue appeared frustrated with his team getting complacent in the third quarter, the Cavaliers made clutch plays late to open the longest roadtrip of the season with two straight wins.
Here are five observations:
Forgettable quarter - The Cavs knew it going into the game. The Suns ranked second in the NBA, averaging 18.7 points off turnovers.
That helps explain the dreadful third quarter, as the Cavs committed five turnovers, which the Suns turned into 10 points.
LeBron James had three of those miscues. Kyrie Irving had the other two. And when the mistakes happened, the Suns raced up the court quickly, recording 15 fastbreak points.
"We had some turnovers, all of them by me and Kyrie. Primary ball handlers," James told reporters. "We'll be much better. They stepped up the pressure a little bit more in the third quarter, they got us to extend our offense a little bit more."
The rapid pace helped Phoenix shoot 16-of-22 (72.7 percent) from the field, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Suns outscored the Cavs in the period, 37-24.
While it was most egregious in the third, turnovers were an issue all night. The Cavs committed 20, which the Suns turned into a whopping 27 points. James and Irving each had seven.
Going iso - Lue has spoken in the past about being OK with his team's propensity to resort to isolation basketball.
With Irving and James it can be a ruthless approach against any defense with the duo's ability to seemingly get any shot they want at anytime, especially when opponents switch.
It often works, with the Cavs entering the night as the league's fourth-highest scoring team. But Lue made a point of clarity on Sunday.
"When we're running the sets to get our guys to their spots and their positions, that's different than dribbling down and just holding it for the whole time and taking shots," he said. "That made it tough on our offense. Floor balance wasn't right and we also turned the ball over a little bit. If we don't run the right stuff and get to our spots and positions, it makes it tough. We've got to be better."
It's another thing that helped Phoenix stay in the game.
The Cavs finished with just 15 assists on 44 made shots. Irving had a team-high seven while James chipped in with four. It's been a theme for the Cavs to have their two best players controlling so much of the offense, but nobody else had more than one assist.
"We started to play one-on-one a little too much and you know we missed some shots and turnovers and they got out and ran, so it's a big piece of our team, it's a big piece of our game but we don't want to have too much of a steady diet of it," James said.
Even the young Suns, ranked last in assists per game, dished out 23 -- eight more than the Cavs.
It's now the fifth straight game failing to top 19 assists.
Irving's run - After watching their 20-point lead evaporate, seeing it morph into just a three-point advantage to begin the final period, Lue couldn't afford his team getting off to a slow start.
That's why he began the fourth with James. But eventually a breather would be required. It came at the 8:51 mark with the Cavs clinging to a one-point lead.
With James resting, Irving started to take over.
Following a defensive stop, Irving buried a 3-pointer and then capped his 5-0 run with a slick layup that forced the Suns into a timeout.
A few minutes later, Irving drove to the basket, collapsed the defense and dished to Richard Jefferson, who canned a corner triple thanks to a friendly bounce on the rim.
Irving had a hand in all eight points during the spurt and when James re-entered at the 5:56 mark, the Cavs' lead had grown to six.
Starting roadie - In the presence of greatness -- Olympian Michael Phelps -- James, who watched Phelps live a few times in the past, put on his own late-game display of grandeur.
Holding on to a two-point edge with around three minutes remaining, James buried a 3-pointer to push Cleveland's lead back to five. He followed that up with another triple, his second of the night.
Minutes later, he delivered what turned out to be the dagger, a driving layup.
Prior to the roadtrip, following a short-handed loss against the Chicago Bulls, a frustrated James talked about not knowing what to expect as the Cavs began this stretch. It gives the team a chance to grow together, learn about each other and get into a different mindset. But they have to take advantage.
James has done his part in the first two contests, averaging 32.0 points on 25-of-37 (67.5 percent) from the field and 2-of-5 (40 percent) from beyond the arc to go with 8.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Things get much tougher Tuesday against Utah.
Not to be lost - James' typical brilliance helped. So, too, did Iman Shumpert's clutch 3-pointer with 1:25 left. But Love's contributions shouldn't be overlooked.
Sure, his 25-point, 10-rebound night stands out. But two plays late were arguably his most important.
After James made back-to-back threes, the Suns kept charging forward. So James hoisted another step-back triple. Only this one didn't drop and might've been the stop Phoenix needed before one final surge.
Instead, Love corralled the offensive rebound. With the defense out of place, he kicked the ball back out to Irving who snapped a pass to a wide-open Shumpert. Three points. Seven-point lead.
"It feels great, man," Irving told reporters. "You just got to trust the pass. Everybody has that opportunity to make a shot, regardless of what the defense is doing. Guys are going to get open and it's our job to get them the ball."
Less than a minute later, on the Cavs' ensuing offensive possession, Love's tough screen against P.J. Tucker gave James just enough space to shake free, drive left of the line and finish at the rim.
Without the screen and attention Love commands because of his outside shooting stroke, the Suns might've forced James into another tough jumper as opposed to a lay-in.
Sometimes it's the little things that help determine the outcome of a tight game. And Love made two winning plays.