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 James scored 33 points in his first game since Dec. 23, but the
Suns' Morris had a career-high 35 points in the Phoenix Suns'
107-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at US Airways Center.
"Markieff was awesome," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "We just
pounded it into Markieff and he came through, play after play. He
was huge."
Morris had 11 points in the fourth period, and he made two free
throws to give the Suns a 103-97 lead with 1:09 remaining.
James, playing his first game since Dec. 23, hit a layup and free
throw with 51.1 seconds remaining before Suns forward P.J. Tucker
made four free throws in the final 27 seconds to ice the game.
James also had seven rebounds, five assists and five turnovers, and
his layup with 3:50 remaining gave the Cavs a 97-96 lead after they
had trailed by as many as 19 points in the third quarter.
 "I couldn't make those moves two weeks ago," said James, who had 12
points while playing the entire fourth quarter and played almost 37
minutes. "For me to come back and be myself again was pretty cool."
James, who attended the Ohio State-Oregon game in the Dallas area on
Monday night before returning to Phoenix, seemed to get stronger and
more physical as the game wore on.
It even surprised him.
"I thought I was going to run out of gas, too," James said.
"Yesterday at practice my lungs were burning. I guess I hurt the
body yesterday and was able to get my second wind today."
The Cavs (19-20) have lost six in a row and nine of their last 10.
Guard Goran Dragic had 18 points and center Alex Len had his second
straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Suns
(23-18) broke a two-game losing streak.
Cleveland guard J.R. Smith had a season-high 29 points and made 8 of
14 3-point field goals in his fourth game with the Cavaliers since
being acquired from the New York Knicks on Jan. 5.
Cavs center Kevin Love, the principal defender on Morris, scored
nine points and had nine rebounds in 26 minutes. Love did not play
in the fourth quarter, and James guarded Morris down the stretch.
"I thought he was terrific," Cavs coach David Blatt said of James.
"That's not new for anybody, but I thought he laid it out there, and
that's not an easy thing. He hasn't played a competitive game in
eight games."
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James was knocked to the floor three minutes into the second quarter
when Tucker struck him on top of the head with an inadvertent elbow,
but after a timeout he returned.
"They all scare me the way we've been losing guys," Blatt said of
James' fall. "He's a pretty tough guy."
On the next possession, James was called for an offensive foul as he
attempted to work his way through the Suns defense, and afterward he
restrained Blatt as he attempted to confront the official who made
the call.
"He was on his way to a technical, so I got him away before he got a
'T,' " James said. "Just protecting my coach."
NOTES: Cavs F LeBron James played 36 minutes, 41 seconds, about
three minutes longer than Blatt said he had planned. "That's just
because we had a chance to win, so we took him out that far," Blatt
said. ... The Suns began a franchise-long eight-game homestand
Tuesday. They have had three seven-game homestands. ... F Brandan
Wright scored five points in 13 minutes in his home debut for the
Suns after being acquired from Boston for a conditional draft pick
Friday. Wright, 6-foot-10, is averaging 72.5 percent shooting from
the field. ... Cleveland F Kevin Love, who has a $16.7 million
contract option for 2015-16, told the Northeast Ohio Media group, "I
think that we will figure it out here, so I don't plan on opting out
or any of that. I plan on being here." Love was the fastest player
in NBA history to record 4,000 rebounds and 500 3-pointers, doing it
in 401 games after hitting three threes at Sacramento on Sunday.
Antoine Walker did it 448 games, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
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