Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Associated Press
CLEVELAND
Alvin Gentry and Byron Scott watched the same game Tuesday night, but the two coaches had vastly different reactions to what they saw.
Goran Dragic scored 19 points, Michael Beasley added 15 and the Phoenix Suns took control late in the third quarter to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 91-78 Tuesday night.
Gentry was all smiles after his team scored the final 14 points of the third en route to winning for just the second time in seven road games this season.
“We wanted to push the tempo a little bit,” he said. “Once we finally got our energy up in the third quarter, we did that, and I thought we did a great job of finding the mismatches.”
It’s not surprising that Scott, whose team has lost 10 of its last 11 games, had a different point of view.
“I’ll make just a real quick statement — Andy Varejao was fantastic,” he said. “Everybody else stunk tonight. Anything else you need to know?”
Cleveland went ahead 59-57 with 3:28 left in the third quarter on Waiters’ layup, but the Suns, playing their second game on a six-city trip, took over. Four points each by Beasley, Jared Dudley and Luis Scola, and a basket by Jermaine O’Neal accounted for the run.
Scola scored 14 points for Phoenix.
“We’re not Oklahoma City,” Dudley said. “We’re not the best team in the West, but we can play better and we can come home above .500.”
Varejao had 20 points and 18 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double. He’s averaging 14.7 points and 17.7 rebounds during the stretch. Varejao leads the NBA in rebounding with a 14.9 average.
“To me right now he’s the best center in the NBA,” Scott said. “By far the best in the Eastern Conference. Coaches and players are starting to recognize how well he’s playing.”
“The way Anderson is rebounding the ball right now, the only comparison you can make is to Dennis Rodman,” Gentry said.
Cleveland played its fifth straight game without star point guard Kyrie Irving, who is out until mid-December.