The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 131-120 in Cleveland at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The Lakers leader, LeBron James put on an absolute show in his return to the Cavaliers. He seems to get up to play against the Cavaliers. After all, he has a lot of history with them after playing 11 years with the team.
LeBron James scored 38 points on 17-for-29 shooting from the field. James also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 12 assists. James once again recorded another triple-double. James pulled out all the stops. He hit all kinds of shots, driving lay-ups, fadeaways. He also got a huge dunk over his former teammate Kevin Love which will probably be number 1 on Sportscenter. James spoke postgame about Cleveland and his hometown fans in Northeast Ohio.
“They’ve seen pretty much my whole life in basketball,” he said. “Either seen me or heard about it, who is this kid from 40 minutes south of here playing ball at age 9, 10, 11 , 12? Who is this LeBron kid? And they either drove down to see me or saw me when I came to Cleveland and played in AAU tournaments and seem me play in high school games in the Cleveland area, so they’ve seen me for almost 30 years, since I picked up a basketball. That’s the difference between this arena and every other arena in the world.”
The Lakers currently sit in ninth place in the NBA’s Western Conference with a 31-41 record. If the season ended today they would be in the Play-In Tournament. James feels that as long as the Lakers have him on the floor, they have a shot.
“None of that stuff matters to me,” he said. “I’m having a blast playing the game of basketball. Once I leave the arena, I leave it there. I’m really having the time of my life right now. I’m working through it and we’re working through it and that’s all that matters.”
More Lakers Contributions
- Russell Westbrook scored 20 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out 11 assists.
- Austin Reaves scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out six assists.
- Stanley Johnson scored 12 points and grabbed three rebounds off the bench.
- Malik Monk scored 12 points, grabbed two rebounds, and dished out three assists off the bench.
- D.J. Augustin scored 20 points off the bench.
The Lakers travel home to Los Angeles next on Wednesday, 3/22 to face the Sixers. Tip-off from the Crypto.com Arena is at 10 pm Eastern/ 7 pm Pacific.
