Basketball: Irving leads Cavs past Suns

“And, I think we did a good job of it”. To the contrary, though, Cleveland was held to their lowest-scoring game of the season, resulting in another road loss. Whether it was hangover from the Golden State loss, overconfidence, exhaustion, or dead batteries in their Medical Alert bracelet – the Cavs never got back up, falling 105-76 to the Trailblazers.

“We were lacking in energy, lacking in approach and flat as all get-up”, Cleveland coach David Blatt said. Barton continues to have a breakout season, averaging 15.8 points per game and 6 rebounds per contest.

Delly was rock-solid off the bench in Monday’s win – hitting both three-pointers he attempted and finishing with five assists – one more than anyone on the Suns squad. The Blazers were in front by a startling 34-12 after one quarter as Cleveland made only 5 of 20 shots and committed seven turnovers through the first 12 minutes. They finished a putrid 36.4 percent from the field despite connecting on 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) from three-point range. Crabbe established his career high by halftime. “It was a good night”. Portland ran off eight consecutive points midway through the third quarter to run its lead to 34 points, and led 90-59 heading into the fourth quarter. Blatt soon removed his starters, and they were not to return. Out of the timeout, the Blazers regained control, as Leonard, Henderson and Harkless combined for 7 straight points, then the Blazers poured it on, with a Crabbe three-pointer pushing the lead all the way to 28! It will be the third time he will sit out the second of back-to-back games since his return December 20, and he doesn’t expect the Cavaliers to miss a beat. It was as close as they would get; Portland responded with an 11-0 run for a 51-24 advantage. After losing to the Warriors on Friday, this is the first set of back-to-back games since Irving returned to the lineup a week ago and the plan all along was to have him sit out.

“We have an incredible team and everyone understands that roles are going to change throughout the season no matter what”, Irving said. “There was no reason for it be like it was tonight”.

Portland started fast and led 63-34 at halftime. The Blazers’ zero-turnover first half was their first since the second half of a March 10, 2012, game against Washington…. “The Cavs were turned inside-out by Portland’s passing and cutting”.

Kyrie Irving didn’t play due to getting rest on a back-to-back and Damian Lillard missed the game due to injury. They’ve gotten 10 the last two games. The Cavs are being cautious with Irving, who played 26 minutes in the team’s Christmas Day loss at Golden State. It was easy to ignore last season since his backup Tristan Thompson came in and played at a different level, but when a team is losing in the fashion that the Cavaliers are, it becomes very noticeable. 167 from 3-point range (5 for 30) against the Warriors. “Earl is just recently out of playing, so he has a good feel for the guys in the league because he played against majority”, Hornacek said.

The Suns had a chance to take the lead, but another Knight three-pointer was wiped out by an offensive foul by centre Tyson Chandler against Cleveland guard Iman Shumpert with 46.6 seconds left.