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LeBron, Cavs vie to regroup vs. Suns

Mar 7, 2015 - 4:43 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James was hard on himself following Friday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

"I suck," James said after the 106-97 setback. "Tonight was another one of those nights. But I suck as far as me turning the ball over. I gotta be better."

James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will have short memories when the Phoenix Suns pay a visit to Quicken Loans Arena Saturday night.

The Cavs had 18 turnovers in Atlanta Friday night and James was responsible for nine of them. He scored 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting, handed out eight assists and grabbed six rebounds for Cleveland, which has lost three of five after winning four in a row.

"It was the first time they used that game plan on us. They kind of caught us by surprise," said James afterward. "Down the road, if we get to that point, we'll be all right."

Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 20 points, while Kevin Love had 14 with eight rebounds.

Cleveland has won 12 in a row at home and is 23-9 at the Q. The Cavs won 16 in a row in the Forest City from Feb. 11 - April 12, 2009 and are winning by an average of 16.1 ppg during the home streak.

The Cavaliers, who sit a half-game behind Chicago for the Central lead, are 10-1 in the last 11 games against the Western Conference and will begin a four-game road trip Tuesday against Dallas, San Antonio, Orlando and Miami.

Phoenix will wrap up a four-game road trip (2-1) Saturday and defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 108-100, in overtime on Friday.

Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris and Eric Bledsoe scored 19 points apiece with the latter grabbing 10 rebounds with six assists. Brandan Wright had 14 points for the Suns, who scored 16 of the 24 points in the extra frame.

Neither team led by more than two points in the extra session until Brandon Knight followed Morris' jumper with a difficult fadeaway with 17.5 seconds left. Bledsoe and Brandan Wright, who finished with 14 points without missing a shot, both made two free throws to seal the win.

"Even though we made the shots, it was our defense that did it," said Suns coach Jeff Hornacek. "We made it hard for them to score."

The Suns have won four of their last six games and are 16-17 as the visitor this season. They are 1 1/2 games off the eighth and final postseason spot in the West and will start a five-game homestand Monday versus Golden State, Minnesota, Atlanta, New York and New Orleans.

Phoenix edged Cleveland, 107-100, on Jan. 13 in the Valley of the Sun, as Markieff Morris scored 35 points and James countered with 33 after missing the previous two weeks because of back and knee injuries. Phoenix is 7-2 in the past nine games in this series.

The Suns have won four in a row at Cleveland.