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Wrap-Up -- After skipping a mid-week trip to Memphis, the Cavaliers’ Big Three were rested and ready when Luke Walton’s Lakers rolled in on Saturday.
As usual, Cleveland’s power trifecta did their damage during different points of the game. And as usual, they were too much to handle – holding off a pesky Lakers squad down the stretch and getting back into the win column with a 119-108 victory at The Q.
Cleveland got off to a sluggish start, with L.A. taking a 31-26 lead after one quarter. But the Cavaliers began heating up in the second quarter, held serve in the third and outlasted the Lakers’ late three-point barrage compliments of 16 fourth-quarter points from LeBron James.
Kevin Love led the Wine and Gold with 27 points to go with a season-best 17 boards. The three-time All-Star, who’s now topped the 20-point plateau in each of his last six games, was 11-for-20 from the floor to go with four assists and a steal.
LeBron followed up with 26 points – his seventh straight contest of at least 20 points – saving his best for last, going 6-for-10 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from long-range, in the final period. Overall, the four-time MVP was 9-for-18 from the field, adding nine assists, seven boards, two steals and a pair of blocks.
With the win, since returning to the Cavaliers, James hasn’t lost a game to Lakers in five matchups.
After seven days off, Kyrie Irving was ready to roll on Saturday – finishing with 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting to go with a career-high-tying 12 assists to lead both teams. Irving added six boards and a game-high three steals in the win.
As he tries to shake out of an early-season funk, J.R. Smith had his second straight big night at The Q – finishing with 14 points, going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, 5-of-8 overall. In his last two home contests, Swish is averaging 18.5 points while shooting 67 percent (10-of-15) from long-distance.
Going against the highest-scoring bench in the NBA, the Cavaliers’ second unit held their own. Richard Jefferson led the reserves with nine points while Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye added eight points apiece – with Shump adding four boards and Frye connecting on all three field goal attempts, including both three-point attempts.
The Big Three stuff the stat sheet as the Wine and Gold improve to 19-6.
Nick Young led both squads with 32 points for the Lakers, going 12-for-19 from the floor, including 8-of-14 from deep. Overall, the Lakers canned 16 triples to 15 for the Wine and Gold. Both teams finished with 30 assists.
Before Saturday’s matchup, former Cavalier Timofey Mozgov was presented with his 2016 NBA Championship ring and, within seconds, was mauled by his teammates at center court. That was about as good as it’d get for the loveable Russian – who finished with just two points and four boards in the loss, the Lakers’ ninth in their last ten outings.
Turning Point -- The Cavalier pulled ahead of the scrappy Lakers early, but they never pulled away.
After two nights off, Cleveland didn’t look sharp in the opening period – and despite shooting an even 50 percent from the floor, saw the Lakers – playing the second-half of a back-to-back and without the services of D’Angelo Russell – shoot 55 percent and lead by five after one.
But the Cavaliers’ second unit, powered by Iman Shumpert and Richard Jefferson, got the Wine and Gold going – drilling back-to-back triples to give Cleveland a three-point lead, 34-31.
LeBron canned three of his next four free throws to cap the Wine and Gold’s 15-2 run to start the second quarter. The Lakers would get to within two at separate points, but never regained the lead the rest of the way.
By the Numbers – .862 … Cavaliers’ home winning percentage against Western Conference opponents, going 25-4 over the last 29 meetings at The Q.
Quotable – Kevin Love, on Cleveland’s bench in Saturday’s win …
”We didn’t start the game like we wanted to and when that second unit came in they were able to get I believe close to, if not a double digit lead. I think that helped spark us going into starting that second quarter and just continuing to give us good momentum throughout the game.”
Up Next -- After taking down the Lakers on Saturday night, the Cavaliers play another mid-week road-and-home, back-to-back – traveling to Milwaukee for a Tuesday night matchup before welcoming the Greek Freak and Co. back to The Q on Wednesday. The following Friday, the Cavaliers welcome the surprising Nets to town for their final warm-up before the Warriors roll in on Christmas Day.