Cavaliers Look Like NBA Champion With Win Over Phoenix

By ESPN

Before their first home game following a long trip that ended with a miserable thud at Golden State, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue showed his team video clips to remind them who they are.

The message?

"Do that," LeBron James said.

Kyrie Irving scored 26 points, James, his All-Star teammate, had 21 points and 15 assists, and Cleveland looked more like an NBA champion in a 118-103 win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.

The Cavs were back in Quicken Loans Arena following a six-game road swing (their longest of the season) that concluded with an embarrassing 35-point loss to the Warriors. But on their home floor, they had better offensive balance, ball movement and defense while improving to 30-11 -- the same record Cleveland had at the halfway point of its 2016 NBA title season.

Channing Frye scored 18, Iman Shumpert 17 and James Jones 14 while filling in for star forward Kevin Love, still bothered by back spasms.

"Coming off our road trip we just weren't playing Cavalier basketball," said James, "and getting the ball popping from one side to the other. It was good to get back to the way we've been playing for most of the season."

Tyson Chandler had 22 points and 16 rebounds, but the Suns lost for the fourth time in five games.

Phoenix closed within 12 in the fourth, but was unable to get any closer.

"They always make the right play offensively and defensively," said Suns guard Devin Booker, who finished with 21 points on 4-of-12 shooting. "They're always on a string together on both ends of the floor. You can hear them talking out there. You can hear them communicating. I guess that's one thing you can learn from them, how comfortable they are with themselves and the way they talk to each other."

Thursday, January 19 Scoreboard

Cleveland 118, Phoenix 103

Miami 99, Dallas 95

Washington 113, New York 110

San Antonio 118, Denver 104

Minnesota 104, Los  Angeles Clippers 101

Friday, January 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

Portland at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Toronto at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Milwaukee at Orlando, 6 p.m.

Sacramento at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Brooklyn at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Golden State at Houston, 7 p.m.

Chicago at Atlanta, 7 p.m.

Utah at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Indiana at Los Angeles Lakers, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

Portland at Boston, 4 p.m.

Washington at Detroit, 5 p.m.

Brooklyn at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Atlanta, 6 p.m.

Phoenix at New York, 6:30 p.m.

Milwaukee at Miami, 6:30 p.m.

Houston at Memphis, 7 p.m.

San Antonio at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Clippers at Denver, 8 p.m.

Indiana at Utah, 8 p.m.

Sacramento at Chicago, 8 p.m.

Sunday, January 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

Golden State at Orlando, 11 a.m.

Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas, 2:30 p.m.

Phoenix at Toronto, 5 p.m.

Denver at Minnesota, 6 p.m.