Last game, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James made history and moved up to second on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. How would he follow that up against his hometown team? By putting his good friend Kevin Love on a poster, among other things.
James posted a triple-double and added another unbelievable poster to his collection at the expense of Love as the Lakers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 131-120. The Lakers end their four-game road trip with a 2-2 record and remain in the ninth spot in the Western Conference.
James finished with 38 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, but all anyone could talk about was his absolutely monstrous dunk over former teammate and fellow 2016 NBA Champion in Love.
After a missed free throw from Russell Westbrook, Austin Reaves battled for the offensive rebound. LeBron would cut to the basket and Reaves would find him. James then rose up over Love, seemingly using his body as a launchpad to go even higher before throwing it down and bringing his hometown crowd, and the Lakers bench, to their feet.
That wasn’t it for LeBron as he also brought the game home in the fourth quarter. First, he hit an extremely difficult fadeaway and followed it up with another tomahawk dunk on an assist from Reaves. Then, after a Cavaliers three, he would hit an even more unbelievable fadeaway to put the Lakers up 12 with under two minutes remaining.
But LeBron was far from alone on this night as he got some major contributions from his teammates, particularly D.J. Augustin. The newest Laker was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and 6-of-6 from 3-point range on his way to 20 points. All but one of those makes came in the first half as Augustin played a major role in getting the Lakers back in the game falling behind by double-digits early.
Westbrook also had another strong outing with 20 points, 11 assists and just one turnover. Westbrook not only did a great job setting up his teammates but also had his mid-range game working, hitting a number of shots from his preferred area of operation.
Reaves did a little bit of everything with 11 points, five rebounds and six assists while Malik Monk and Stanley Johnson added 12 points apiece off the bench. The movement on offense from the Lakers was as good as it has been all season as they totaled 34 assists on 53 baskets and they took care of the ball with just eight turnovers.
Next up for the Lakers
The Lakers return home for a matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday before hitting the road for another three-game trip that starts against the team looking to overtake them in the standings on Sunday when they head to New Orleans to face the Pelicans.
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