Streaking Cavaliers gift 3-point barrage to birthday boy LeBron James as Lakers lose
Jarrett Allen scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers led nearly wire to wire en route to their eighth straight win, a 122-110 decision against the host Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday (Wednesday, January 1, Manila time).
Donovan Mitchell added 26 points for the Cavaliers, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back set.
The Cavaliers came out hot, building a 15-point lead midway through the first quarter. Los Angeles rallied briefly to take a lead in the second quarter, but it was all Cleveland for most of the night.
Allen shot 12-for-14 from the floor to key the Cavaliers’ interior scoring, while Mitchell’s 6-of-13 3-point shooting paced Cleveland to an 18-for-46 night (39.1 percent) from long range.
Max Strus, who scored 15 points off the Cavaliers’ bench, hit 4 of 8 from deep, with three of his treys coming during a pivotal stretch lasting 2:09 in the third quarter. Strus’ three 3-pointers and another from Darius Garland, who finished with 14 points, fueled a 12-2 Cleveland run.
Another Cavaliers run of 17-2, beginning late in the third quarter and carrying over into the fourth, blew the game open. Mitchell hit half of his six 3-pointers during the decisive spell as the Cleveland advantage swelled to a game-high 16 points.
Georges Niang made one of his two 3-pointers off the bench amid the run. He finished with nine points to contribute to a balanced scoring effort from the Cavaliers. Evan Mobley added 20 points and six rebounds.
Los Angeles’ Austin Reaves matched his career high with 35 points and added 10 assists and nine rebounds. Anthony Davis added 28 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocks as the Lakers fell after winning five of their previous six games.
LeBron James scored 23 points and dished seven assists, but he, Reaves and Davies were the only Lakers to score in double figures.
Shake Milton and Dorian Finney-Smith, making their Los Angeles debuts after a trade from the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend, scored six and two points off the bench, respectively. – Rappler.com