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LeBron James marshalling his troops - Source: Reuters -
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The last unbeaten home record in the NBA came to an end on
Tuesday when the Cleveland Cavaliers produced a final quarter rally
to see-off the Phoenix Suns 109-91.
LeBron James hit 29 points and Mo Williams 24 as the duo led a 15-0
run in the fourth quarter for the Cavaliers (21-8), while the Suns,
who trailed by six with 6:50 remaining, went scoreless for more
than five minutes.
"Our effort was at a pretty high level for most of the night on the
defensive end," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown told reporters. "When we
do that, we get good results."
It was a strong return to form for Cleveland after a disappointing
loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
"We're a veteran ball club and we know how important bounce-back
games are," James said. "We didn't play as well as we wanted to
(Sunday) but we forgot about it and moved on."
James produced a couple of thunderous dunks and was supported by
Anderson Varejao (13 points) and Delonte West (12) to prevent the
Suns claiming their 20th succesive home win.
"They have a great player (James) on their team and they play off
him," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said.
"Contrary to what anybody may think, to get to the Eastern
Conference Championship you are going to have to go through
Cleveland at some point."
Shaquille O'Neal had an uneventful return to Phoenix in his first
game back since being traded from the Suns in the offseason,
scoring three points and grabbing five rebounds in 19
minutes.
For Phoenix (18-10), Steve Nash recorded 18 points and 10 assists
as they suffered their first home defeat since Cleveland beat them
on March 12.
"We just stopped scoring," Nash said "It didn't necessarily have to
do with their lineups. They wanted it bad, and we were indecisive.
We lost our confidence down the stretch, and that was
it."
NBA results on Tuesday (home team in
CAPS)
Milwaukee 84 INDIANA
81
ORLANDO 104
Utah 99
Sacramento 102 CHICAGO 98
SAN ANTONIO 103 LA Clippers 87
Cleveland 109 PHOENIX
91
