Cavs fall short of halting skid against powerhouse Suns team

Cavs continue skidding against the powerhouse Suns

The Cleveland Cavaliers fell just short of completing a late comeback as they fell to the streaking Phoenix Suns at home, 120-115. The Cavs have now dropped five consecutive games while their opponents marched to 14-straight victories.

After going toe-to-toe with last season’s finalists for three quarters, Cleveland found themselves down double-digits early in the fourth period, only to muster up enough fightback behind Cedi Osman to race to within a possession in the waning minutes of the ball game.

Down by just three with seconds remaining on the clock, the Cavs fell into a precarious situation when the Suns intentionally fouled to prevent them from attempting a potential game-tying three and Ricky Rubio failed to capitalize on free throws.

Center Jarrett Allen finished with a team-high 25 points to go with 11 boards while shooting an uber-efficient 90 percent from the field. Osman added 23 markers to lead the bench mob, with Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio combining for 29 in the loss.

On the other hand, the Phoenix guards had a field day with Devin Booker exploding for 35 points, while Chris Paul finished with a double-double of 17 and 12.

The Cavs needs to stop the bleeding

Not to make excuses for the weary and oft-hurt Cavaliers squad, but they really missed having one of the team’s best scorers in Collin Sexton, and a huge part of their early success in prolific rookie Evan Mobley.

Despite going up into most of these games as heavy underdogs, they have proven enough mettle to compete. And though one can just chalk it up to experience as moral victories, the Cavs know they still ought to find a way to consistently close out such opportunities.

With the loss, Cleveland drops to 9-10 for the season, dipping below the .500 mark for the first time in nearly a month but will have a good opportunity to rectify that when they host the Orlando Magic for their last home game of the month.

The struggling Magic have only won four contests thus far, and the Cavaliers will do well not to play down to the competition and continue at the same level they have in the losses to legitimate playoff contenders.

Cleveland needs to shake off this tough stretch and resume their quest to chase a playoff berth when they host the Orlando Magic on the 27th for their final game in the homestand.