by The Cleveland Cavaliers (15-9) took on a hot Los Angeles Lakers team (10-13), who came in winning 8 of their last 10. The Cavaliers were able to pull away late, winning 116-102.
The Cavs started the game with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt, along with Evan Mobley, Lamar Stevens and Jarrett Allen, who missed the last 5 games with a back injury.
The Lakers starting five featured LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker IV, Patrick Beverly and Dennis Schroder.
The Cavs offense started out hot thanks to solid play by their bigs. Mobley started out with a tough mid range shot over LeBron while Allen showed why he was missed. He was 7/7 in the first quarter for 14 points.
Anthony Davis left the game very early with an illness. He played just 8 minutes where he scored 1 point, and had three rebounds and two assists. He came into tonight’s game averaging 49.5 in his last two games.
The Lakers stayed close through the first thanks to a 15-2 run. Thomas Bryant and Russell Westbrook coming off the bench led the run. Bryant had 7 points and Westbrook had 6. The Cavs led 27-26 at the end of the first.
The second quarter started out with another Lakers run. LeBron led the run, finishing the first half with 11 points to go with 11 from Bryant and 10 from Westbrook.
The end of the second quarter was all Cavs. They went on a 15-4 run to end it. Mitchell had 11 of those 15 points, finishing the half with 14 total. Allen continued his big night. He had 22 and 7 rebounds after the first half. Garland also looked sharp as he had 9 points and 8 assists. The Cavs led 57-49 at halftime.
The third quarter went back and forth with explosive plays. Every time the Cavs pulled away, the Lakers came right back in it.
LeBron had 10 more points in the quarter. Austin Reaves also hit a few clutch shots, including an and-one that gave the Lakers a brief lead.
The backcourt of Garland and Mitchell showed up big in the third. Mitchell had 11 and Garland had 10. The Cavs kept a slim 85-83 lead.
Mitchell took over in the fourth quarter. He was passing, scoring and stealing the ball. The Lakers had a hard time stopping him. He had 18 points in just the fourth quarter alone.
The stars of the game for the Cavs were Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell. Allen had the first 20-point half of his career, and he ended up finishing with 24 and 11 rebounds. Mitchell dropped 43 with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Darius Garland also contributed with 21 points and 11 assists.
The Lakers were led by Lebron James and Thomas Bryant. LeBron played hard, scoring 21 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in the game. Bryant had his season high with 19.
The Lakers will look to climb back up the standings tomorrow. They’ll face off with the Raptors (12-12) in Toronto.
The Cavs get a few days off. They’ll next play on Friday as they host the Sacramento Kings (13-9).
