Cavs Open Huge Lead, Work Over Suns, 107-90
A day after the Suns’ alarming 20+ point blowout at the hands of the New York Knicks, they found themselves down more than 20 again… this time, by the second quarter.
The Cleveland Cavaliers showed no mercy on Wednesday night, as they opened a 57-29 halftime lead on Phoenix in a 107-90 over the Suns, who entered the week with the NBA’s best record at 14-3.
Cavs’ center Zydrunas Ilgauskas set the record for most games ever played in a Cavs uniform when he checked into the game with 3:50 left in the first quarter, to a thundering roar of “ZZZZZZ” from the crowd.
“That’s the closest I’ve ever come to tears on the basketball floor,” Ilgauskas said.
Ilgauskas has been forced to assume a bench role this season with the Cavs’ import of Shaquille O’Neal into their starting lineup. While the team looked shaky with an 0-2 start, the Cavs have since been in cruise control, on their way to a 13-3 record over their next 16 games.
“They don’t look bad at all. A lot of folks talk about how bad they look with Shaq. I disagree,” Suns forward Amare Stoudemire said. “I think they look fairly good. Shaq played decent out there. He created some havoc defensively, got some baskets deep in the paint and rebounded well. Shaq’s not looking horrible, I’ll tell you that. He’s looking pretty good and the Cavs are looking solid as well.”
LeBron James scored only 12 points (but added eight rebounds and 10 assists), as he was happy to defer to his teammates for the night. And his teammates responded accordingly, with Z knocking down a team-high 14 points, leading seven Cavs in double figures.
