Cavs hang on to beat Suns
PHOENIX -- Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Kevin Love combined for 80 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers blew a 20-point third-quarter lead but hung on to beat the Phoenix Suns 120-116 on Sunday.
James had 12 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers 25 seconds apart to stretch a two-point Cleveland edge to a 115-109 lead with 2:47 left. Irving scored 27 points and Love added 25 points for Cleveland, which beat Phoenix for the fourth straight time.
The Cavaliers (28-8) won 15 of their last 18 games and have their best 36-game start since going 30-6 to start the 2008-09 season. Cleveland is 8-2 against the Western Conference.
Eric Bledsoe had 31 points and Devin Booker added 28 for the Suns (12-26), who missed a chance for their first three-game winning streak since Nov. 12-16, 2015.
T.J. Warren had 15 points and Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Suns, who were down by 22 in the first half and 77-57 early in the third quarter.
Phoenix roared back with a 31-11 run in the third to tie the game at 88 on a Warren jumper with 50.5 seconds left. The Phoenix starters accounted for all 37 Suns points in the quarter, with Warren scoring 10 and Booker and Bledsoe nine each, and Phoenix did not commit a turnover.
Irving gave the Cavaliers a 93-90 lead after three quarter on a long 3-pointer just before the buzzer and followed his own 3-pointer with a driving lay up to give Cleveland a 104-98 cushion with 7:38 left.
The Suns led by five early and got 10 first-quarter points from Bledsoe. His 3-pointer gave them their last lead of the quarter at 19-17 with 6:19 left.
But Cleveland took off on a 17-2 run from there, beginning with an Irving 3-pointer and an immediate steal and layup by DeAndre Liggins. James capped the run with a fastbreak layup to give the Cavaliers a 34-21 lead with 2:53 left.
Love had 11 points for Cleveland, who shot 64 percent, and they led 41-28 after one quarter.
Frye had 10 points off the bench in the second quarter and Love gave Cleveland their biggest lead at 62-40 on a five-foot hook with 4:35 left. Booker has seven points for the Suns and they pulled within 69-53 at halftime on Bledsoe's layup with 1.6 seconds left.
NOTES: New acquisition Kyle Korver came into Talking Stick Arena with Cavaliers GM David Griffin about two hours before the game. Coach Tyronn Lue said the Cavaliers' portion of the trade -- which would send Mike Dunleavy, Mo Williams, a protected first-round pick and cash considerations to the Atlanta Hawks -- is complete. "It's in the league's hands right now," Lue said. Cleveland hopes Korver can practice with the team in Phoenix on Monday and make his debut Tuesday at the Utah Jazz. ... The Suns entered the game with eight of their 12 wins against the Eastern Conference (8-4), compared to 4-21 against the West. ... C Tyson Chandler had his seventh game with 18 or more rebounds this season, the most by a Suns player since Charles Barkley had seven in 1993-94. Chandler had a career-high 10 games with 18 or more rebounds in 2006-07. ... The Suns head to Mexico City this week for games against the Dallas Mavericks (Thursday) and San Antonio Spurs (Saturday).