With the Cleveland Cavaliers clinging to a 96-95 lead with under 30 seconds left to play and the shot-clock winding down, Kyrie Irving somehow found himself wide-open and proceeded to knock down a clutch three-pointer to help ice the win against the Phoenix Suns. Irving had hit the Cavs’ previous bucket on a floater that put Cleveland up 96-92 with just under two minutes remaining. Irving finished with a team-high 22 points in just his fourth game back this season.
J.R. Smith added 17 points and attempted only three-pointers in the game, going 5-of-11 overall from behind-the-arc. Kevin Love chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds on 50 percent shooting from long-range, while LeBron James finished with 14 points, seven assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals.
The reeling Suns have now lost five straight to fall to 12-21 for the season, just a day after losing Eric Bledsoe to a torn meniscus and announcing that they’d fired two of their assistant coaches. T.J. Warren led the way for Phoenix with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and was a near-perfect 4-of-5 from downtown. Brandon Knight chipped in 18 points, while Jon Leuer and P.J. Tucker added 14 points apiece. The Suns had five players in double-digit scoring in a losing effort.
