FArting
Lopes Up!
The Cleveland Cavaliers are eyeing the NBA's best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Phoenix Suns are quickly losing sight of their postseason chances.The Cavaliers look to continue their dominance over the Western Conference on Thursday night by winning in Phoenix for the first time in a decade.
Cleveland (50-13) goes for its third straight victory following Tuesday's 87-83 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. LeBron James notched his second consecutive triple-double and fifth of the season with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as the Cavaliers opened their three-game western swing by rallying from a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
"This is a gut check win for us and we needed it," said James, who had 14 points, 10 boards and 12 assists in a 99-89 win over Miami on Saturday. "You want to try and win as many games as possible, especially when you see the battle with what is going on with us and Boston and the Lakers and Orlando also trying to establish home court."With 11 wins in its last 13 games, Cleveland has overtaken the Celtics to move atop the Eastern Conference and is in a tight battle with the West-leading Los Angeles Lakers for the league's best record.
The Cavaliers are 20-4 versus the West -- two of those losses came to the Lakers -- for the best interconference record in the league.A victory Thursday would set a franchise record with 23 road wins, but Cleveland has lost nine straight in Phoenix, dating to an 86-73 win on March 10, 1999.James, though, has averaged 35.7 points, 7.3 assists and 6.0 boards in his last three games in Phoenix.
He had 26 points, six assists and six rebounds in a 109-92 win on Feb. 11 as the host Cavaliers snapped a four-game slide to the Suns.Mo Williams hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 44 points in that victory. On Tuesday, Williams missed 13 of 17 shots and scored only 14 points, but hit a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left to give Cleveland an 85-83 lead. Williams was scoring 24.0 points per game on 56.2 percent shooting in his previous five games."One thing about Mo, he never thinks about the last shot he missed or the last one he made," James said. "He gets right back."Phoenix, meanwhile, is looking to get back into the playoff race following five straight losses. Tuesday's 122-117 defeat to Dallas pushed the Suns (34-30) five games behind the Mavericks for the eighth playoff spot in the West.
Phoenix, mired in its longest losing streak since a six-game skid in January 2005, has not missed the playoffs since finishing 29-53 in 2003-04."Our concentration, I felt, could have improved a lot. I'm very disappointed with the way we played and competed in the second half," Steve Nash said following Tuesday's loss.The two-time MVP has 20 or more points in six straight games for the first time in his career, but Phoenix is 8-9 this season when he reaches that mark.Nash missed the Feb. 11 loss to Cleveland due to back spasms.Shaquille O'Neal had 21 points against Dallas, moving ahead of Elvin Hayes for sixth place on the all-time scoring list with 27,322. He's averaging 18.6 points during the Suns' five-game slide after scoring a combined 88 in back-to-back wins.O'Neal was held to 11 points in last month's loss at Cleveland.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=290312021
Suns down 15-24 with 3:46 left in the 1st quarter.
