A month after planting the winning shot at the All-Star Game, LeBron James was back in his native Ohio, this time to challenge the Cavaliers.
And, in his old garden, the “King” shone again with a thousand lights, scoring a huge triple-double (38 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists) to allow the Lakers to win at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse (131- 120)!
Well accompanied by a still attractive Russell Westbrook (20 points, 11 assists), the quadruple MVP pulled out all the stops against his former team. Struggling like hell to resist the big game of one of his successors at the Cavs, namely Darius Garland (29 points, 17 assists).
With this success, combined with the defeat of the Pelicans, Los Angeles thus directly recovers 9th place in the Western Conference. As for the Cleveland players, this setback leaves them under threat from the Raptors, if not the Nets, in the Eastern Conference…
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— LeBron James, in the oven and in the mill. In triple-double, therefore, the quadruple NBA champion did not miss his return to Cleveland. Approved by his former fans in the first quarter, the now second best scorer in history still scored individually, largely near the circle, relaunching the Lakers each time he came into play. Above all, he took advantage of his arrival in Ohio to become the new top scorer of the season, just ahead of Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who were not playing on Monday. Clearly, superlatives continue to be lacking to qualify him, at 37…
— Russell Westbrook confirms his strong comeback. What if the 2017 MVP finally began to find his place alongside LeBron James? If it is certainly still a little too early to say, the Lakers point guard seems in any case to regain confidence in him for three games: 21.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.7 assists on average, 53% on shots. Aggressive as you wish, good at creating and inexpensive, in shooting (7/14) as in ball management (1 loss of ball), Russell Westbrook finds some color and it’s all of Los Angeles that benefits. A good omen, in this end of the knife season for the Californians…
— Darius Garland still flawless. With his big double-double, the All-Star point guard was once again Cleveland’s strongman tonight. Never short of inspiration in this attacking match, he never ceased to fuel his team’s brand, both in scoring and creation. The only downside: like all the Cavaliers (and all the Lakers), he didn’t step aside in defense and his oversights in the field, for example, allowed Russell Westbrook and especially DJ Augustin to gain confidence offensively. Gradually sinking the Cavs’ chances of victory…
LES TOPS/FLOPS
✅ DJ Augustine. He was the spark for the Lakers today. Coming off the bench, the 34-year-old leader actually made the powder speak from afar: 20 points, 6/6 to 3-pts! Incandescent and full of confidence, he proved awfully valuable in the first quarter. At the same time as the “Purple & Gold” failed to adjust the sights behind the arc and consequently fell -14 behind. His entry into play therefore woke up the entire Californian collective, while DJ Augustin did not stop there, continuing to punish the Cavs’ defensive omissions over the course of the meeting.
⛔ Kevin Love. A small match for the strong winger of the Cavaliers (8 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, at 2/7 at 3-pts), which especially ate one of the posters of the evening. And it is signed by his former comrade LeBron James! Kevin Love thus tried to play the card of the passage in force, when the “King” decided to fly away to slam a terrible dunk, before half-time. A very bad idea, since the referees did not come into his game, leaving James to succeed in one of the highlights of the night. Without it disturbing then especially Kevin Love who, as a good player, laughed about it with “LBJ” at the break…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI5YcL77dSs
⛔ Defenses. You didn’t have to be a big fan of defensive play to hope to enjoy this game. With their 251 points scored in total, the Cavaliers and the Lakers clearly did not make the slightest effort in this sector and the easy baskets were at the same time chained in the racket, while open shots were frequent behind the arc. . Not the best showcase for the league, in terms of surpassing oneself and fighting spirit…
THE FOLLOWING
Cleveland (41-31) : trip to Toronto, Thursday night to Friday (12:30 a.m.).
Los Angeles (31-41) : Philadelphia reception, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday (03:00).
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||