PHOENIX — The streak is over — and Kenny Atkinson wasn’t around to see it end.
The Cavs lost the first game of this lengthy West Coast road trip to the Phoenix Suns, 126-113, on Friday night inside Mortgage Matchup Center.
It’s Cleveland’s first setback since Jan. 19, snapping a season-high five-game winning streak. The final margin was not indicative of the Suns’ dominance.
Atkinson spent most of his pregame session with reporters heaping praise on the gritty Suns, led by his protégé and former Cleveland assistant Jordan Ott who took over as Suns head coach this past summer.
Atkinson even went as far as to label the Suns the “hardest playing team in the NBA.”
That Phoenix physicality seemed to bother the Cavaliers — and Atkinson — all night.
Late in the first quarter, Atkinson picked up his first technical foul for arguing with the three-person officiating crew — Mitchell Ervin, Nate Green and Michael Smith. As the Suns went to the line for their freebie, Atkinson kept demanding the officials call the action the same way at both ends.
Apparently, he didn’t get his wish.
With his team down by 24 in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, a red-faced Atkinson angrily came onto the floor, bumped into one of the officials and berated him before getting tossed from the game.
The Suns’ lead kept increasing from there, going up by a game-high 33 and causing assistant Johnnie Bryant, who stepped in for Atkinson, to empty the bench.
Going against the hounding Suns’ defense, Cleveland looked out of sorts all night. It committed eight turnovers in the first quarter. That number reached 12 in the first 20 minutes of game action. By the end of a mistake-filled first half, the Cavs were down by five. They coughed the ball up 16 times, which Phoenix turned into 21 points.
The second half wasn’t much better.
Cleveland was outscored, 74-66, over the final 24 minutes, including 45-32 in the decisive third quarter. It trailed for 42 minutes.
Six Cavaliers scored in double figures.
De’Andre Hunter had a team-high 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Donovan Mitchell added 16 points to go with six assists against eight turnovers. Jaylon Tyson, playing in front of his NFL-bound little brother Jordyn, added 16 points while Nae’Qwan Tomlin had 14, Jarrett Allen tallied 12 and Sam Merrill ended the night with 10.
The Cavs finished with 22 turnovers.
In what was an emotional game, Hunter and Mitchell also picked up Ts Friday night, bringing the Cleveland total to four.
The Suns got a game-high 27 points from Dillon Brooks. Six others scored in double figures.
While Cleveland’s late-game subs made the final score much more respectable with hounding full court pressure that stifled the Phoenix end-of-bench group, Friday was not how the Cavs were hoping to start this 12-day trek.
On this night, the student got the best of the teacher.
**Up next**
The Cavs will continue their road trip with a matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.