What is going to happen?
The Phoenix Suns went into the “Rock and Roll capital of the world” and were thoroughly outplayed by the NBA’s best team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, losing 118-92.
The Suns, coming into the game with a modest two-game winning streak and winners of five of the last six games, ended the first quarter tied with the Cavs at 27. However, Cleveland switched to a zone in the second quarter that thwarted the offense. The Cavs went on to outscore the Suns 66-43 in the second and third quarters and never looked back.
The same troubles plagued the Suns this game. Turnovers. The Suns had 17 turnovers while the Cavs had 8. The Cavs had 10 steals. Three-point attempts. The Cavs took 46 threes, making 19 and the Suns took 26, making 10. The Cavs had 15 offensive rebounds this game and the Suns had ONE! That is not a typo, they had one offensive rebound the entire game. That said, Cleveland took 18 more attempts on goal this game. That formula does not equal winning basketball.
Top Performers
- Kevin Durant: 23 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 2 BLK
- Devin Booker: 15 PTS , 3 REB, 5 AST, 7 TOs
- Donovan Mitchell 33 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST
- Darius Garland 16 PTS, 7 AST
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns started the first quarter strong, shooting over 50 percent from the field, however giving up offensive rebounds and turnovers continued to hurt this team. The game was tied at 27 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a fine shooting performance by the Suns-11-19 from the field and 3-7 from deep, while the Cavs shot 38.5 percent from the field and took 10 3pt attempts, making 4. The Suns had six turnovers in the first quarter and the Cavs had 4 steals.
Tyus Triple™️ pic.twitter.com/KlrC50FRUU
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 20, 2025
The second quarter was not kind to Nick Richards or the Suns. Richards had two goal-tending calls early in the second quarter that sparked a Cleveland run. The Cavs went to a zone that stymied the Suns offense who missed five in a row at one time. The Cavs went on a 15-6 run with Darius Garland scoring 10 points in the second quarter.
Suns down 59-46 at halftime. Garland led the Cavs with 14 points and “Spida” Mitchell added 10 points and 4 assists. KD led the Suns with 13 points and Tyus Jones had 11 points. The Suns are having “math” problems, with Cleveland getting more shots on goal versus the Suns. Cavs attempted 45 shots and 19 three-pointers and the Suns had 38 shots and 15 three-pointers. Suns also had 9 turnovers versus 3 for the Cavs. Suns had ZERO offensive rebounds while the Cavs had 4.
Second Half
After a KD bucket early in the third quarter, the Cavs went on to score the next 10 points to make the score 70-48. Suns never got closer than 14 in the second half. Cleveland once led by 32. The Suns waived the white flag with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter.
RYAN WITH THE PUTBACK pic.twitter.com/L5VAMDlKPY
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 20, 2025
Up Next
Phoenix will head to Brooklyn to play the Nets on Wednesday, January 22.