Cavaliers Cool Down Suns

Cedric Henderson found himself in the right place at all the right times.

Henderson scored all 14 of his points in the second half as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Phoenix Suns 86-73 Wednesday night for their second road victory of the season.

"We adjusted just like they adjusted, but I got some chances," said Henderson, who was averaging 7.3 points entering the game. "That's just the way flows. We ran the floor and got some easy points."

Shawn Kemp rebounded from a 3-for-11 performance in the Cavaliers' loss to Utah on Tuesday to score 18 points, 14 in the first quarter.

"I really challenged myself to come hard and play better," Kemp said. "We challenged ourselves this morning to come in here, be loose and not worry about last night's game. There was no way we could come out and start off flat."

Brevin Knight added 12 points and Wesley Person 10 for the Cavaliers, who beat the Suns for the sixth time in the team's last seven meetings.

Tom Gugliotta scored 16 points and Danny Manning 15 to lead the Suns, whose output was the second-lowest in franchise history. Phoenix scored 68 points against the Kansas City Kings in 1981, and twice scored 73 points in a game: in 1977 against New Jersey and again in 1998 against Utah.

The Suns hit 35.4 percent of their shots, their second-lowest total of the season.

"We're just not making enough shots," Suns coach Danny Ainge said. "I don't know if it's confidence. I don't know if we don't have focus. It's very discouraging. All it takes is one guy to break down your offensive execution or your defensive execution."

Phoenix cut a 10-point third-quarter deficit to five points late in the fourth quarter, but Henderson hit a 9-foot jumper with 1:00 remaining to boost the Cavaliers' margin to 80-73.

"Henderson was realy the key to us being able to maintain the little lead that we had and build on it," Cleveland coach Mike Fratello said.

Kemp single-handedly kept the Cavaliers in the game during the first quarter, hitting 6-of-7 field-goal attempts and adding four rebounds. While his teammates missed seven of their first eight shots, Kemp scored six straight points to spark a 12-4 run that gave Cleveland a 14-10 lead with 4:17 left in the period.

"He was a monster inside," Ainge said.

The Cavaliers, who won for the second time in seven road games, closed the second period with an 11-3 run for a 45-38 halftime lead.

Kemp sank his only second-half field goal with 8:46 left in the third quarter as the Cavaliers extended their lead to 51-40. Cleveland led by as many as 13 points before the Suns cut the lead to 68-58 at the end of the quarter.

Notes: A day after the Suns' game in Dallas was delayed 70 minutes because of oil on the floor, Manning still was keeping an eye on the court. Manning, who during his career has reconstructive surgery on both his knees, grabbed a mop prior to an early free-throw attempt and wiped sweat off the floor ... The Cavaliers dressed only 10 players after guard Mitchell Butler and forward Antonio Lang were placed on waivers before the game. The Cavaliers signed former Eastern Michigan point guard Earl Boykins to a 10-day contract ... Phoenix was without starting guard Rex Chapman for the second straight game. Chapman bruised his calf in the Suns' loss to Sacramento on Saturday.

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