Cleveland Cavaliers’ lazy defense leads to worst loss of season and Mo

Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving beat a scrambling Suns defense and the shot clock on a broken play for a long 3-pointer with 22 seconds left to send Phoenix to its fifth straight loss, 101-97 at a packed Talking Stick Resort Arena.

It might be hard to imagine them having similar problems against a woeful team that has been awful defensively, like the one they face Monday night when they visit the Phoenix Suns, but that’s just what happened in their last outing.

The Suns had a chance to take the lead but another Knight 3-pointer was wiped out by a Tyson Chandler offensive foul with 46.6 seconds left.Cleveland had a disjointed possession but James saved the ball from going out of bounds before Love found Irving for a long 3-pointer that gave his team some breathing room.

Kyrie Irving is back, and he definitely was needed on an off night for LeBron James.

Whatever the reason, the Damian Lillard-less Blazers routed the Cavaliers 105-76 Saturday at the Moda Center, snapping a five-game losing streak. The Blazers racked up 18 first half assists without turning the ball over, becoming the first team in the league to record a turnover-free half this season. Tucker, meanwhile, reached double figures for the third time in his last five games and eighth game overall; Booker made it back-to-back games of 10 or more points for the first time in his career.

While Mozgov has been an issue, nothing compares to the way the Cavaliers got annihilated by an 11-20 rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers team on Saturday.

Hey, at least it was the best Suns game I’ve seen in weeks. The Blazers, 27th in the National Basketball Association in points in the paint per game, are lacking an interior presence after LaMarcus Aldridge bolted this summer.

The All-Star guard is hoping Tuesday’s game against the Nuggets is the last he’ll have to sit out this season.

Lowry scored 13 of his 16 points in the second quarter and Ross added 10 as the Raptors led 56-52 at the half. The Cavs were 5-of-20 from the field and committed seven turnovers, which the Blazers turned into 12 points.

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Former Blazer James Jones sparked the Cavs to start a last-ditch comeback attempt, cutting the Blazers’ lead under 30 to open the fourth. Irving’s taking part in time has-been restricted to date. They also played without the suspended Markieff Morris, and assistant coaches Jerry Sichting and Mike Longabardi were fired earlier Monday. James was 4-of-13. He missed all six of his shots outside the paint, including an 0-for-3 night from beyond the arc. We had rotations, Coach Blatt had rotations down, so we got to get back to that.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Kemba Walker scored 18 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, and Charlotte defeated Los Angeles in Kobe Bryant’s final game in Charlotte against the team that drafted him – and promptly traded him – almost 20 years ago. Matthew Dellavedova and Richard Jefferson scored 10 points apiece. Portland took the lead 2:32 into the game and never looked back. Crabbe established his career high by halftime.

Kawhi Leonard had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Boban Marjanovic filled in ably for the injured Tim Duncan and also scored 17.

Pacers 102, Timberwolves 88: MINNEAPOLIS – Monta Ellis had 22 points and six rebounds to help the Pacers snap a three-game skid.