Welp -- the Suns brought the Cavs back down to Earth. After flying high over their last 10-ish games, and especially over their last 5 games, the Cavs ran into a buzz saw. The Suns made xx 3PMs which was their 2nd highest 3PM total of the year and 2nd highest 3PM allowed by the Cavs. It didn't help with the Suns shooting that well the Cavs were that sloppy (xxx turnovers) and their best player was that bad (16 points and 8 turnovers). If you add that up you get the Cavs
By the Numbers
33: The Suns biggest lead
23: 3PMs by the Suns -- tied for most 3PM allowed by the Cavs this year
96: FGAs by the Cavs, 11 more than the Suns but it didn't matter because...
72.2%: FG% by the Suns in the second half
45: Point 3Q by the Suns
22: Turnovers by the Cavs with 15 at half
21: Points off turnovers for the Suns
+18: Fastbreak points by Phoenix
-20: The Cavs plus-minus through 3Qs with Mitchell off the court
+22: Points in the paint advantage for the Cavs
By the Players
Donovan Mitchell: The Suns came out ready for Donovan Mitchell. He had 7 turnovers, 6 points and 5 FGA at halftime, and was on the receiving end of the Suns persistence POA defense. The Suns pick up higher, and more consistent, as just about any team and were aggressive in blitzing and applying pressure off P&Rs. In games like this, without Darius Garland and without a viable backup PG, it puts an inordinate amount of pressure on Mitchell to playmake. The Suns had a good plan for Mitchell, and they executed it. Mitchell tried to get the Cavs back in it in the 3Q (11 pts, 4-5) but it was a little too late.
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Sam Merrill: Just 2-for-8 on 3PAs since he returned from his hand injury, you have to wonder how much he's pushing through. One thing is for sure: He could really use the All-Star break for some rest. A few uncharacteristically short shots makes you think he's probably counting down to ASG as well. Merrill wasn't able to get much going all night.
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Jaylon Tyson: So much for his brother, Jordyn being in attendance. Tyson was one of the few Cavaliers who was able to get something going offensively -- 4-for-8 in the first half and finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. Tyson tried to get the juices flowing with his interaction with Dillon Brooks unfortunately it was lost in the shuffle and another notch in Brooks's agitation belt. With that said, it is fun to see Tyson continuing to grow into his skin and really be the emotional heartbeat of this team. Keep it up.
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Dean Wade: He had a tough night matched up with Brooks on the offensive end, as Brooks stayed hot with 9-for-14 shooting and being the catalyst offensively with Devin Booker out and Jalen Green returning from injury. In nearly 20 minutes, Wade had just 3 3PAs.
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Jarrett Allen: The Cavs had a blueprint early and it was feed Allen on the P&R. The Suns were playing so high and so aggressive it was leaving a lot of space for rolls and middle action off passes out of the P&R that someone like Allen could benefit. 6 of 9 Allen's FGAs came in the 1Q. It looked like he was well on his way to a double-double and extending his 10+ FGA streak but the offensive running through the bigs quickly died out. It was funny to see Allen turn and face and be in the habit of going to his big-to-big passing only to alleyoop Sam Merrill. But hey, he had a cool dunk at least.
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Lonzo Ball: Kenny is showcasing him right? The Cavs were down ball-handlers and needed all they could get with the Suns pressure but Ball's lack of offense continues to be an issue and can be straight up lackadaisical on closeouts and rotations. The high's and low's of the Lonzo Ball experience are ones we'd rather not experience any longer. Will Gilbert pay $60M in tax penalty to keep him? Hard to think so.
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Tyrese Proctor: At this point any of Ball's minutes should go to Proctor who is someone that could be on this team long-term. Proctor ran a nice little pick-and-pop game with Bryant while the game was still in hand. As part of that, enjoyed the savviness displayed on this pick-and-pop attempt to hold the defender just a hair longer to get an open shot for Bryant. Proctor had 5 assists but even he wasn't immune to the turnovers (3).
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De'Andre Hunter: He was one of three Cavaliers to pick up a technical with Mitchell and Kenny being included in that. As has been the habit of late, he's started off 'meh' (2-for-5 by half with just 2 rebound and 0 assist) and picked up his play in the second half (12pts, 5-10 FG). If the Cavs are going to rely on him to score to support the second unit, it needs to come with better foul drawing as he's one of few who can do it. And it needs to come with better playmaking especially as long as Mobley is out.
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Nae'Qwan Tomlin: It felt like we might have had fisticuffs, and Tomlin along with Tyson, both were ready to throw down -- perhaps it's because they know no better? But, that's part of what makes them who they are and why they're invaluable to the energy of this team. 14 points thanks in part to three offensive rebounds but work on those corner threes, young man.
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Larry Nance Jr: Kenny specifically called out Nance in his postgame comments as far as playing like how he wanted the team to play all game long. He led the team with a +17.
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Thomas Bryant: Usually it's dire straits before Kenny decides to bring Bryant off the bench but Bryant responded well with another strong outing -- 9 rebounds, 6 points, 6 assists, and a block. Bryant has his limitations, like in pick-and-roll and can be mistake prone, but he's really the one big that can truly pick-and-pop, and again, he gives a different feel up front. Plus, him and Tomlin on the second unit are +19.3 net rating in 90+ minutes.
Game Notes
- Why can't the Cavs inbound the ball?
- So do ya miss Darius Garland? 3 of their 4 highest turnover games have come within the last 7 games (which is all when Garland has missed). There's things to ding in Garland's game but this team relies heavily on its guards for play set-up, management of the game and keeping things going, and without Garland Mitchell takes on that large burden and that isn't really who he is. He can do it stretches but he's a professional scorer first and foremost.
- Kenny has talked about "unlucky shot data" and these might be one of those games. The Cavs didn't help with some of the defense they were playing that enabled the Suns to get comfortable but with the way they were shooting it in the second half, it's hard to do much of anything. The Suns came in 36.4% from deep and left shooting 47.9% from deep.
- He also touched on the foul and free throw disparity in his postgame comments. The Cavs finished with just 11 FTAs for the game and Phoenix had just 19 fouls despite their physicality. Brad Daugherty had an interesting comment during the game about their being a difference between physicality and foul happy and he spoke to the Suns being more physical than anything else and the Cavs not doing their job in dealing with it and being aggressive on the offensive end.
- That's part of the issue with the team off the bench, and why they may change how it looks, is the team doesn't have that many off-the-bounce players and the offense can get stuck at times. Hunter was supposed to be that but he had just 3 FTAs. When the ball is moving and the shots are falling, that's fine. But there are times when you need to slow the game down and get to the line for easy points, to change pace and and get the opposing team in foul trouble and it rears its ugly head in games like these.
- There's also the issue of how the Cavs handle ball pressure and teams that like to play this style. Have they solved it yet? Not having Garland and CPJ didn't help things but they also didn't do much to assuage those concerns. The Suns did a good job all game of controlling pace, capitalizing off turnovers and making the Cavs uncomfortable.
- Too many empty possessions and too many turnovers for the Cavs. They did their own work in forcing turnovers and making points off turnovers but a lot of it occurred when the game was in hand. As has been the case, when the Cavs don't have productive offensive possessions it leads to destructive defensive possessions. Their offense is the basis for what they do and it directly impacts how and where the other team is getting looks (as weird as it may sound).
- Kenny left the game early after picking up his second technical foul, and I can't blame him one bit -- in being upset on how the game was called but also not wanting to watch that 3Q from the sidelines.