The Cleveland Cavaliers improved their lead atop the NBA to 29-4 with a 122-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in the Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers’ recent strong form was arrested by the Cavs, as LA falls to 18-14 on the season and currently occupies the No. 7 seed in the West.
The Cavaliers were led by Jarrett Allen, who scored 27 points (12-14 FG), 14 rebounds, and three blocks. Donovan Mitchell had 26 points (8-20 FG), while Evan Mobley had 20 points (8-14 FG) and six rebounds while Darius Garland put up 14 points (5-16 FG) and 14 assists. Max Strus had an impactful stint off the bench with 15 points (5-9 FG).
The Lakers were led by Austin Reaves‘ 35 points (11-20 FG), nine rebounds, and 10 assists. Anthony Davis contributed 28 points (12-23), 13 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks while LeBron James put up 23 points (9-17 FG) and seven assists. No other Lakers even scored in double-digits, with underwhelming debuts by Dorian Finney-Smith (2 PTS, 1-4 FG) and Shake Milton (6 PTS, 2-4 FG).
It was a tough loss for the Lakers who tried their hardest to stop the red-hot Cavaliers but fell short. Let’s take a deeper look at this game and analyze the major takeaways.
Another Shooting Letdown For The Lakers
The Lakers have been on their current streak of strong performances primarily due to their defensive turnaround, with Anthony Davis leading the team at a Defensive Player of the Year level. That defense wasn’t potent against the well-rouned Cavaliers and LA’s offense simply didn’t have enough firepower to match up with Cleveland.
The Lakers shot 42-95 (44.2 FG%) from the field but were ice-cold from three, going 9-35 (25.7 3P%). That shooting deficit was enough to sink the Lakers tonight, as they lost by a difference of four three-pointers. Even the end of the game saw the Lakers cut the game down to seven points but miss consecutive three-pointers from Austin Reaves and LeBron James, with Reaves missing a wide-open shot.
The Cavaliers fared much better with 45-93 (48.4 FG%) from the field while shooting an excellent 18-46 (39.1 3P%) from beyond the arc. They were more efficient than the Lakers in every sense of the word, although they did commit 11 turnovers to the Lakers’ eight. Beyond that, it was an offensive letdown that the Lakers couldn’t overcome.
Cavaliers Defense Continues To Show Up
The Cavaliers’ defense ranks eighth in the NBA with a 110.1 defensive rating in the NBA this season, and they showed exactly why against the Lakers. If Austin Reaves (35 PTS) didn’t have a career-high scoring night, the Lakers probably would’ve struggled to crack 100 points with the Cavs defense denying easy baskets at almost every juncture.
Outside restricting the Lakers to below-average shooting stats as a team, they protected the rim at a higher clip with eight blocks compared to the Lakers three. While the Lakers got seven steals to the Cavaliers’ five, that stat would be misleading about the perimeter pressure created by Cleveland. Their defenders were extremely active and forced the Lakers into bad shots which affected their shot quality.
The Cavs have multiple switchable options who play with high intensity and effort, with them essentially outhustling the Lakers. That’s pretty impressive because the Lakers were hustling at a high level as well, which was a trend over their recent 6-2 record in their last eight games. The difference is that the Cavs were just better at what the Lakers have been doing well.
The Lakers Are A Long Way Away From Contention
This game came down to talent. The Cavaliers are a much better team from top to bottom, even if LeBron and Anthony Davis could be considered the best players on paper. But the Cavaliers’ depth and their four-headed monster of Mitchell, Mobley, Garland, and Allen can’t be matched by Davis or LeBron.
Reaves is a tremendous player, but after that, almost the entirety of the Cavaliers rotation would outrank the players on the Lakers. Even though LA made a win-now move for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, it’ll take a while before both are acclimated enough to be impactful. Finney-Smith was the only Lakers with a positive plus-minus (+7).
The team knows they need to make more moves to be real contenders, with LeBron himself dismissing the Lakers are title contenders. The team is looking for reinforcements in the market, but this game shows the gulf between them and the elite contenders in the NBA.
If they don’t make more moves in the next month, they will not have what they need to be real contenders. The Cavaliers should’ve delivered a wake-up call to the Lakers tonight.
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