After sitting out the past nine games due to lower back and knee injury, Lebron James returned to the Cavs lineup Tuesday night in Phoenix and didn’t disappoint.
Questions arose early in the day whether or not Lebron would even play or how rusty he would be after sitting out for nearly two weeks. Lebron showed no signs of fatigue, throwing down some “highlight reel” dunks, while stuffing the stat sheet with 33 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in 37 minutes.
That wouldn’t be enough however, as the Suns ruined the King’s return with a 107-100 Cavs loss. The Cavs have now lost nine out of their last 10, including six in a row, to fall under .500 at 19-20 on the season.
The Cavs would rally back from a 19-point deficit in the third quarter, led by JR Smith who finished with 29 points going 8-14 from behind the arc.
Kevin Love, who had five straight games with a double-double, struggled all night going 3-11 from the field while finishing with nine points and nine rebounds. Love was on the bench for the Cavs comeback, and the entire fourth quarter.
The Suns held a two point lead going into the fourth quarter, a quarter in which Cleveland held two different leads.
Phoenix would regain the lead with under three minutes left to play and didn’t look back. Two PJ Tucker free throws with 18.1 seconds left would ice the game for good.
Markieff Morris led the Suns with a career-high 35 points, including ten in a row down the stretch, on 15-20 shooting to help close the game out.
