Recap: Suns 120, Cavs 115 (or, Climb Every Mountain)

At some point in the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s contest against the Phoenix Suns, Cavs commentator Austin Carr said something to the tune of “The Cavs want to do it the hard way; well, may as well just climb the mountain.” Playing the hottest team in the league, a reigning Western Conference champion which is more or less intact from last year, sounds like a mountain indeed. Would the Cavs approach the summit?

Darius Garland propelled the Cavs’ offense and Cedi Osman erupted in the second half, but the Cavs could not overcome a host of small mistakes and treacherous acts from the Suns’ veterans down the stretch. Summing up both the officiating and the Suns’ ability to get key calls, Nate Smith called it ‘lawyerball’:

Officials took three made triples off the board. Cavs missed a bunch of layups and free throws. Chris Paul wins lawyerball. Thats the ballgame.

— HoopsDogg (@oldseaminer) November 25, 2021

Beyond the referee madness, basketball savant Ricky Rubio had one of his least joyful games of the season, going 5-20 from the field and 3-6 from the free throw line (all of the misses from the stripe came in crunch time). The Cavs are now a game under .500, anticipating the return of Evan Mobley and a chance to return their overall Win-Loss record to equilibrium against Orlando.

First Quarter 

The first quarter was an offensive slugfest. Phoenix made the decision to guard Darius Garland with the lanky Mikal Bridges, at times doubling the nimble Cavs point guard at the top of the key. Darius was unphased, remaining aggressive and distributing well. He dished three assists in the quarter, but picked up an early phantom foul on Jay Crowder and then got whistled for a technical for punching the ball toward an official after another questionable call on Dean Wade. The fact that Darius ultimately fouled out of this game was testament more to hyperactive whistles, not some lack of experience or something less than delicate use of space as a defender.

Even as the game hit a rhythm, the defensive match ups felt disjointed — Darius and Chris Paul rarely guarded one another, creating mismatches which neither team adequately exploited. J.B. finally got unnerved and called an early first timeout, giving his starters a moment to talk over why Devin Booker had been allowed an open three and an open lane to the basket. Okoro had the hazardous privilege of chasing around Booker, hardly a successful tactic as the Suns’ shooting guard went 6-6 in the quarter.

Denzel Valentine then got his only playing time in the game (running for 5:31), giving the Cavs a defensive lift with two steals. Although the reserve had arguably showcased his ability to guard the fadeaway against Jason Tatum, J.B. seemed disinclined to give Valentine more court time and no one succeed in drape a fire blanket over Booker.

Two reasons that the Cavs were keeping pace with the Suns scoring were big men: Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love. Both had outstanding games. The Cavs starting center had a monster first quarter, going 5-5, sinking two free throws, and setting the tone against one of his stylistic and age peers, DeAndre Ayton. Watching the two second units go back and forth had the momentary feeling of an All Star game.

Second Quarter 

Kevin Love made a full-court pass to Darius in this quarter; it was a thing of beauty, not to be taken for granted. Love also had two strong takes inside — only one went down, but he was very confident in his bullyball moments in the post. Inevitably there was a blown assignment along the way, but Kevin Love’s inside game gave the Cavs a different look and he was a typical monster on the boards as well.

Speaking of monsters, Jay Crowder, otherwise known as “the former Cav (and Celtic, Cavs, Jazz, Heat, Grizzly, etc.” started and finished this game. Crowder went 1-6 in the field in the contest, and in the second quarter he took his first step toward proving true the age-old coaching advice: “If your shot isn’t falling, act.” Crowder looked like he had been stung by a cluster of wasps after his foot clipped Garland’s, and the Cavs point guard subsequently had three fouls.

Lauri Markkanen, still getting his legs back after a long hiatus, had in some ways a rough go, clanking two absolutely wide-open threes from the same spot on the floor, having a dunk attempt blocked by JaVale McGee, and whipping a pass into Phoenix traffic. By the same token, he played reasonably solid defense, and had his moments on offense too.

Don’t think this dunk from Lauri got enough love last night. Caught his defender sleeping, cut inside, and BAPTIZED McGee (giant, athletic freak of nature)

Markkanen’s just an all around better athlete than I misperceived him to be prior to joining the Cavs pic.twitter.com/ZR7WhCerjD

— Brayden Todd (@BraydenBallin) November 26, 2021

McGee started to make his mark on the game, kneeing Rubio in the sternum and generally being a nuisance. Leaving Dylan Windler on the bench for the entire game, J.B. rode Okoro for nearly the entire second quarter, during which he went 0-4 from the field. “There’s a reason he’s open for that shot, “ mused the Suns television announcers after the second-year man from Auburn missed an open look from three. Rubio lit up and did some offensive damage in this quarter, knocking down his only two triples of the game, and Cedi gathered momentum, also hitting a pair of three-point shots. The Cavs went into the locker room up by five points.

Third Quarter

The third quarter featured the Suns catching up to the Cavs (who only scored 20 points) on the scoreboard and some fantastic exhortations from Cleveland’s TV commenter Austin Carr. To wit:

“When you get a little guy, you take his little [dramatic pause] to the basket” – on Jarrett Allen backing down Chris Paul.

“Take your time – and dot the ‘i’”—on Markkanen’s spin-to-the-baseline jumper with two clicks left on the shot clock.

“You have to take the shot like you want to make it” – on Markkanen bouncing the ball of the front of the rim when facing up Chris Paul from mid-range.

Carr was in rare form for this game, far better than the almost routine “now the Suns are going to make their run – the question is how much damage are they going to do” stuff from the Phoenix team, sounding almost bored with the wins.

On the court, Garland started the frame with an outstanding whipline of a left-handed pass to Okoro on the break – making one wonder if it isn’t time to permanently archive “Sexland” and start discussion of the merits and perils of Cleveland’s “Garkoro” backcourt, a term which sounds vaguely like a butcher shop in the West Side Market, or, if you prefer also like an old-school Eastern European villain or superhero.

This quarter featured a stretch of sloppy play from both sides, but Chris Paul willed the Suns forward with a slow-motion-horror of a three pointer. Here Jarrett Allen committed his single foul of the game on the close-out. Shortly thereafter, down 80-73, Love supposedly took over in the huddle and told the team they need to find an identity that does not involve losing games regularly down the stretch.

Rubio could have helped matters by finishing at the rim: three of his ingenious drives to the basket leading to very close open looks – if only for fractions of a second —  came up empty. Momentarily forgetting his words to the team, Love turned his back to avoid closing out on Bridges, leaving the hot-handed Phoenix swingman wide open for a three. Luckily, Bridges missed, but the Suns ended up with the momentum as this quarter concluded.

Fourth Quarter

This quarter was about Cedi Osman channeling LeBron James – he muscled into the lane for a step-back and-one, dropped in a couple of well-timed threes, rebounded, and dished out a couple of assists. He played the whole quarter and deserved every minute.

He might have had another three were it not for a very cagey play by JaVale McGee.

one of the worst take fouls you’ll see this season. Cavs are in the middle of a big run and the ref stops the play to rule THIS an away from the ball foul on JaVale McGee. Osman’s 3 taken off board, Cavs ball side out. this STINKS @NBA. pic.twitter.com/fcnLGRW0C0

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 25, 2021

Cedi beat his chest and howled at the crowd when Cleveland was a point away (104-105), but the Cavs could not quite catch up to the Suns. The officiating had something to do with that – Garland fouled out, and Crowder somehow turned an ostensible jump ball into the third act of MacBeth. It would be sacrilege to say that Rubio “lost the game” for the Cavs, but two missed free throws in the last minute of regulation would haunt, and his final attempt to miss a free throw went through the net altogether, drawing neither iron nor points.

Phoenix cashed in and left Cleveland with another win, leaving the Cavs 0-2 this year against the Suns. Barring an unlikely meeting in the NBA Finals, we’ll have to wait another year to see if the Cavs can surmount not just the better teams in the West (recalling Ws against the Nuggets and Clippers), but the best of the best. It sounds like a mountain, but it is one that this Cavs squad is surely willing to climb.