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Cavs complete homestand with New Orleans in town

Jan 28, 2014 - 3:51 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will close out a five-game homestand Tuesday versus the New Orleans Pelicans at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Cavaliers are 1-3 on the stay and dropped a 99-90 decision to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, as Kyrie Irving ended with 24 points and nine assists in defeat. Luol Deng had 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Tristan Thompson added 17 points and 13 boards.

Cleveland is 11-11 at home this season and shot just 23.8 percent from the floor in the second half after making 54.5 percent of its shots in the first 24 minutes. The Suns trailed 61-43 at the break, but used a strong third quarter to take the lead.

"(Phoenix) just outworked us in the second half, simply put. We had a chance at the end of the game," said Irving, who has scored 20-plus points in five of the last six games (21.7 ppg in that time).

Cavs big man Anderson Varejao has 3,990 career points and 3,999 career rebounds, and hopes to reach the 4,000 mark in both Tuesday. He had two points and 10 boards versus the Suns.

Cleveland will start a three-game road trip Thursday against New York, Houston and Dallas.

New Orleans has won two in a row and three of its last four games, and will play two in a row on the road at Cleveland and Minnesota.

The Pelicans will try to win their third straight road game and are coming off Sunday's 100-92 victory versus the Orlando Magic. Anthony Davis had 22 points, a career-high 19 rebounds and seven blocks, while Tyreke Evans finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

"It was a great team win for us," Pelicans head coach Monty Williams said. "Any win is a good win. We really stress that."

Evans hadn't played since Jan. 21 because of an illness.

Brian Roberts and Eric Gordon scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Pelicans, who are 8-14 away from the Big Easy.

The Pelicans defeated Cleveland, 104-100, on Nov. 22 at New Orleans Arena and have won five of the last six meetings between the two teams. New Orleans, though, has struggled at the Q, losing nine of the last 12 games there.