The Cleveland Cavaliers had a strong amount of momentum that was temporarily halted by the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. While the Cavaliers had been hitting a stride after several roster adjustments, the team struggled against the Atlanta Hawks that proves the team still has some work to get done before the playoffs. Now, they will face the Phoenix Suns who are currently battling to squeeze into the playoffs.
Cleveland has the second-best record in the NBA since Jan 15, but the rough patches have been ugly. The team fell to the Indiana Pacers without Kyrie Irving's support. Then they lost in overtime to the Houston Rockets in a game that was very testy. however, they bounced back with two straight wins, looking to top the East-leading Hawks. That did not go as planned. Atlanta shot over 50 percent to get the win while forcing LeBron James into eighteen turnovers.
James managed 33 points while JR Smith added 29, but the rest of the team struggled as Timofey Mozgoz did not get a field goal and Irving put up eight turnovers. To make matters worse, Cleveland is preparing to see a Phoenix team that handed them one of their worst losses as the Suns shot 52.6 percent back in mid-January for the win. Markieff Morris had a career-high 35 points.
When that game happened, Cleveland did not have any of their new roster upgrades and had yet to really gel with one another, something they hope is not the case this time around. Phoenix is missing some pieces as well as Goran Dragic is no longer on the roster after getting traded to Miami. Isaiah Thomas is also gone. The Suns dod have Brandon Knight who is shooting just 36.6 percent in eight games with the Suns.
Knight has averaged 26.5 points against the Cavaliers in two games against them this season. Phoenix would love a repeat performance from the point guard. The Suns struggled shooting in their Friday and hope to turn things around against one of the East's best teams.
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