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Phoenix — — Donovan Mitchell doesn’t need 71 points in a game for the Cleveland Cavaliers to do their best.
Sunday night he didn’t even have to be on the floor.
Mitchell and Darius Garland both scored 22 points to lead the Cavaliers, but it was a few bench players who pulled away from Cleveland in the fourth quarter to beat the hard-fought Phoenix Suns 112-98.
“It’s one of the best things to see because we have a lot of different players from different disciplines,” said Mitchell, who scored 71 points against the Bulls on Monday. It’s cool.”
The Cavaliers won for the fourth time in five games. He won the Suns title for the second time this week after the Cavaliers defeated them 90-88 on Wednesday.
A struggling Phoenix, playing without an All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker, fell 9-of-10, six straight times.The Suns now have a 20-21 record. .Season.
The aggressively challenged Suns have failed to exceed 100 points in four straight games.
Suns head coach Monty Williams said, “We did our best to keep the course and then come in fourth, but it wasn’t enough to withstand their defensive pressure.” continued to pursue
The Cavaliers held a comfortable lead for most of the game, but the Suns narrowed the lead to 80-79 heading into the final quarter. But a group of mostly reserves, led by Raul Neto and Lamar Stevens, helped Cleveland soak up the drama in the final minutes as they started the fourth with a 27-6 run.
All five of Cleveland’s starters scored in double figures, with Caris Levert adding 13 points off the bench.
Duane Washington led the Suns with 25 points off the bench. Mychal Bridges added his 15 and Deandre Ayton his 14. Ayton cautiously left the court after appearing to twist his left ankle late in the match. He said it was probably an everyday injury.
“Tonight we just lost a little bit of focus in the fourth quarter,” Ayton said.
With a 14-0 run, Cleveland led 35-26 by the end of the first quarter. The Cavaliers led him 57-54 at the break after making his 60% shooting from the field.
Mitchell back in Utah
Mitchell will return to Utah on Tuesday night.
He was a three-time Jazz All-Star during his five-year tenure and enjoyed considerable success, but it was also full of drama. Mitchell and his All-Star teammate Rudy Gobert never seemed to mesh perfectly.
Mitchell said he doesn’t know how the Utah crowd will react to his return. was exchanged with
“We did a lot of great things there,” Mitchell said. “Obviously we didn’t reach our final goal. I don’t know what the reaction will be but I hope it’s cheers. Lots of positives despite not winning the championship. There was one, it’s not easy, only one team does it, we had five cracks and we missed it.
“At the end of the day, they are playing well. Lori is playing like crazy. They have a great group, a great coach. For me, we have to win one more away game. it won’t.”
tip in
Cavaliers: Mitchell returned to the lineup after missing Friday’s game against the Nuggets. … Garland was dealing with a sprained right thumb, but still played. ,,, shot from the field 57.7%.
Suns: Paul (hip), Booker (groin), Cameron Payne (foot) and forward Cam Johnson (knee) are out. …In the first half he made 8 of 12 he made 3-pointers (66.7%). … ushered in the 47th consecutive sold-out audience.
next
Cavaliers: Tuesday in Utah.
Suns: Golden State on Tuesday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP–Sports
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