Phoenix Suns drop Cleveland Cavaliers 91-78 on the road: NBA Recap
Goran Dragic scored 19 points and dished out 7 assists as the Phoenix Suns beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 91-78 on the road, Tuesday night. Michael Beasley scored 15 points while Luis Scola came off the bench to add 14 points for
the Suns.
"We're not Oklahoma City. We're not the best team in the West, but we can play better and we can come home from this (six-game, 10-day road trip) above .500." said the Suns shooting guard Jared Dudley who scored 11 points on the
night.
Anderson Varejao was red hot as he led the Cavaliers with 20 points and 18 rebounds, Dion Waiters collected 16 points and 7 assists while Alonzo Gee chipped in with 12 points.
"I'll make just a real quick statement. Andy Varejao was fantastic and everyone else sucked tonight. Anything else you need to know." Cavaliers coach Byron Scott commented after the loss.
The visitors got off to a great start and opened up the proceedings with a 7-0 run. A Beasley driving finger roll layup maintained their seven point advantage as the Suns went by 13-6 up. Cleveland narrowed the gap to 11-15 shortly
afterwards but the Suns went on to lead by 19-13 at the end of the period.
The second quarter was also a low scoring affair. Omri Casspi knocked down a three pointer in the early going of the period that made it 18-22 for the Cavs, but the Suns went on a 7 for none scoring spree that pushed their lead
to 29-18.
Cleveland kept them in check though and a Gee layup reduced the deficit down to 30-35 late in the half. The Suns were leading 37-32 by the end of the first half.
A good passage of play for Cavs tied the score at 41 early in the period. They continued to make inroads and a Waiters layup made it 59-57 with 3:28 remaining. That was however the beginning of the end for the Cavs. Phoenix went
ballistic in the ensuing passage and erupted with a 14-0 run to close the quarter at a commanding 71-59 advantage.
The Suns did not let the Cavaliers even catch a glimpse from that moment onward and maintained a double digit lead throughout the fourth. Waiters made a free throw to make it 63-75 for the Cavaliers but Phoenix were in no mood
to be chased as they raced to a 81-67 advantage around the mid quarter mark. They were enjoying a solid 21 points lead at one stage before Cleveland scored the last 8 points of the game.
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