FArting
Lopes Up!
Despite one of his highest scoring games of the season, LeBron James was left frustrated after his latest effort.
Frustration has been a familiar feeling at the end of his games against the Phoenix Suns.James and the Cleveland Cavaliers look to bounce back from two tough losses Wednesday when they host the stumbling Suns, who have won the last four meetings between these teams.
Cleveland (39-11) suffered its first home loss of the season Sunday, falling 101-91 to the Los Angeles Lakers to snap a 23-game winning streak at Quicken Loans Arena.The Cavs couldn't recover Tuesday, losing 96-95 to the Indiana Pacers for their first consecutive defeats of the season. James scored 47 points -- his second-most of 2008-09 -- but was whistled for a foul with 0.2 seconds remaining, which allowed Indiana's Danny Granger to hit the winning free throw.
James went 15-for-21 from the field, and had tied the contest after being fouled on an alley-oop with 0.4 seconds left. The odd sequence of events to end the game had Cavaliers coach Mike Brown furious."That last call, on the run, is the worst call that I have ever been a part of," Brown said. "I cannot imagine another worse call than that. It was an awful call and for him to take away a basketball game from a team with .4 seconds on the clock is irresponsible."
The Cavs, who have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, now return home for their final game before the All-Star break. While they face a Phoenix (28-22) team that has dropped four of seven overall, the Suns have won 15 of the last 18 meetings between these teams and four straight in the series, despite the best efforts of James.James has averaged 31.6 points against the Suns -- his highest career average against any opponent -- including two 40-point games. Still, he is just 2-8 versus Phoenix.
James is averaging 36.2 points in his last five games overall.Phoenix is looking to bounce back after a dismal offensive performance in a 108-91 loss at Philadelphia on Monday, when it trailed by as many as 20 points.Amare Stoudemire scored 19 points and Jason Richardson added 16 for the Suns, who committed 18 turnovers leading to 25 Philadelphia points.Steve Nash had eight assists, but was held to two points on 1-for-8 shooting.The Suns were coming off back-to-back wins, including a 107-97 victory over Detroit on Sunday in the opener of this road trip. They were looking to match their longest winning streak of the season, but instead failed to score 100 points for the first time in nine games."I think our energy is what got us down," Stoudemire said. "I think for the most part, we played decent. Sometimes it's just tough getting those wins on a back-to-back."
Nash averaged 28.0 points and 9.5 assists in Phoenix's two victories over the Cavaliers last season.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=290211005
