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Cavs lead by 32 in win over Suns

Mar 8, 2015 - 6:29 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Timofey Mozgov had a team-high 19 points despite not playing the fourth quarter and the Cleveland Cavaliers led my as much as 32 points in an 89-79 win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

LeBron James added 17 points for the Cavaliers, who moved into a virtual tie with idle Chicago for first place in the Central Division.

James had eight assists to reach 4,206 in a Cavs uniform, tying him with Mark Price for most in franchise history.

"I think it's a pretty cool feat anytime I get an opportunity to be in the record book," James said of tying Price, who was a point guard for the Cavs for nine seasons between 1986-95. "Having assists, that means my teammates are making shots so the credit goes to my teammates."

Kevin Love added 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win and Tristan Thompson had 15 points and 12 boards off the bench.

The Cavs bounced back from a 106-97 loss to Atlanta on Friday, ending a tough road swing against two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They beat Toronto on Wednesday.

Markieff Morris had 16 points to lead the Suns, who had a two-game winning streak snapped to finish a 2-2 road trip.

"They made shots. We didn't," said Suns guard Eric Bledsoe. "They got good looks and were playing great defense."

The Cavs led by as much as 32 points in the third quarter, then scored just nine in the fourth to account for the slimmer margin of victory.

Cleveland coach David Blatt said his team was a little worn out down the stretch.

"I thought we played three great quarters and we had the game in-hand," he said. "Got a little messy there in the fourth quarter but that's our fourth game in five nights and our eighth game in 13 days."

Love had nine points in the first quarter and the Cavs shot nearly 67 percent despite James going scoreless in 9 1/2 minutes. They trailed by six early on but later scored the last seven points of the quarter for a 30-24 lead.

Thompson scored nine points off the bench in the second quarter and the Cavs held the Suns under 19 percent shooting (4-of-22) to build a 16-point lead.

Marcus Morris opened the quarter with a jumper for the Suns but they went scoreless over the next seven-plus minutes as Thompson led an 11-0 Cavs burst with five points.

Cleveland had a 53-37 lead at halftime and poured it on in the third quarter, with James and Mozgov combining for 20 points.

Game Notes

The Bulls (39-24) and Cavs (40-25) are separated by 0.004 percentage points atop the division ... The Suns beat the Cavs 107-100 on Jan. 13 in Phoenix ... The Cavs go back on the road for four more games beginning Tuesday in Dallas ... The Suns host Golden State on Monday to start a five-game homestand.