The Los Angeles Lakers continued their road trip on Wednesday night, taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers and looking to bounce back from their first loss.
Playing in Cleveland is always special for LeBron James, and this one was extra special as it was his first game there playing alongside his son Bronny. Ultimately though, the Lakers just didn’t have it in this one as the Cavaliers cruised to an easy 134-110 victory.
The Lakers actually jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in this one with LeBron throwing down a dunk in Cleveland like old times. Donovan Mitchell got going from there though with seven quick points to give his team their first lead.
Cleveland was able to force some early turnovers and Mitchell stayed hot with back-to-back triples, forcing a Lakers timeout with the Cavaliers leading 20-15.
It wasn’t long before the Lakers needed another timeout as the Cavaliers continued making 3s at will to stretch their run to 12-0 and their lead to double digits.
Nothing changed to end the first quarter as the Lakers continued turning the ball over while Cleveland couldn’t miss, taking a 42-23 lead into the second.
James did what he could to get the Lakers back in it to begin the second quarter, taking a charge and then completing a three-point play.
The Lakers were not able to gain any sort of momentum, however, as they kept turning the ball over while Jarrett Allen was dominant on both sides of the ball. While the hope was to cut into the deficit before the end of the half, the Lakers went into the locker room trailing 67-48.
Turnovers continued to plague the Lakers to begin the third, allowing the Cavaliers to build their biggest lead at 24 before James started attacking the paint for some layups to start a quick 8-0 run.
That was short-lived though as the Cavaliers got back to what was working for them, making timely triples, forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. It was pretty clear that the Lakers didn’t have it as Cleveland end the third on another run to stretch their lead back to 20 at 99-79.
After the Cavaliers went on an 8-0 run early in the fourth, the Lakers pulled the plug and took out their main guys for the rest of the night. That allowed Dalton Knecht to get some run and he was a bright spot, knocking down some outside shots. It also allowed Bronny to get some minutes to close out the game, and the Cleveland crowd gave him a massive ovation upon checking in and then also after he made the first bucket of his career.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers will continue their road trip on Friday night when they travel north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors at 4:30 p.m. PT.
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