Kyrie Irving guides Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-94 win over Los Angeles Lakers: NBA Recap
If the Los Angeles Lakers were in turbulent waters last week, they have now hit the eye of the storm as Cleveland Cavaliers downed them 100-94 at the Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night. The Lakers have gone 9-13 after this loss,
and are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
Kyrie Irving did not look like the man returning after 11 games as he posted a double-double with 28 points and 11 assists, C.J. Miles supported his guard well with 28 points. Anderson Varejao had his double digit rebounding streak
snapped but he more than made it up for it by a strong performance on the offensive end of the court. He finished off with 20 points and 9 rebounds while Alonzo Gee chipped in with 17 points. Cleveland got little help from the reserves as the bench players
combined for only 6 points on the night.
When Kobe Bryant scores more than 30 points the Lakers lose and this trend continued on the night – they are 1-10 in such games now. Bryant posted a night high 42 points on a 16 of 28 shooting. Dwight Howard collected 19 points
and hauled down 20 rebounds while Metta World Peace had 13 points and 9 rebounds.
"This is one of the most challenging stretches of my 17 years, and the most baffling, too," said a visibly angry Bryant, "We have the talent and personnel to do it, but we're not, and it's baffling. It's extremely frustrating.
"It doesn't make any sense. We're still finding ways to lose games."
World Peace connected one from behind the arc early in the first period to tie the score on 10. It was close for a while when the Cavaliers scored 5 quick points to go up 19-14, but it was countered by a 7-0 spurt by the Lakers
that put them ahead on 21-19. The Lakers pushed their lead to 29-23 by the end of the period.
Cleveland gave a strong performance in the second period and a Varejao layup had them up 39-31 around the half quarter mark. Miles knocked down a three pointer to kick off a 6 nil spurt for the Cavs later in the period that extended
their lead to 54-39 at halftime.
The Lakers showed signs of a comeback in the third period as they started slashing the deficit. A Bryant free throw made it a 7 point game on 50-57 and Los Angeles cut the deficit down to 62-65 before Irving nailed a buzzer beating
three-pointer to put the Cavs up 68-62.
A Bryant jump shot early in the final period had Lakers to within 71-75 of the Cavaliers. The Lakers kept them to with 2 or 3 points for most of the period and a Kobe shot from downtown had the Lakers trailing 92-95 with 28.9 seconds
to go. But Cleveland defended well in the closing moments of the game and kept Bryant and company at bay, hanging on to a 100-94 win.
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