Tied at the end of 3 the Lakers held the Cavs to 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the 4th quarter. The lid was on the basket and nobody could make a shot.
The Lakers came in with the league's worst scoring defense allowing over 119 per game and held the Cavs to 101. It looked like they decided they were going to play defense. I thought they would come back with a strong effort after blowing a 26-point lead to OKC in their last game. They were determined to win this game and in the deciding 4th quarter the foursome of LBJ, Anthony Davis, Westbrook, and Carmelo took control.
LeBron found some energy and blew by the Cavs for layups or bounce passes to Davis for easy buckets. Carmelo got hot at the same time the Cavs got cold.
The Cavs lost despite 16 offensive rebounds and 20 Laker turnovers. The Lakers shot 54.8% from the field and 44.4% on 3's. Carmelo's 24 points off the bench were huge. The Cavs allowed him too many catch-and-shoot 3's.
At least Markkanen is showing signs of busting out of his shooting slump with 17 points. Mobley actually outplayed Davis with a line of 23/6/3 with 2 steals while Davis had 15/9/3 with 1 steal and 3 blocks. Garland had a great offensive game with 18 points and 11 assists.
One game after bailing the Cavs out with 26 points Sexton had his worst game of the year, going 2-for-9 and was a -19 in 32 minutes. When he's not scoring he's a liability. He did have 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists, however, but we needed a lot more from him. The Lakers did a great job of doubling or tripling him when he got to the paint.
Lamar Stevens did a nice job defensively but is hopeless on offense, missing point blank shots. We need to get Okoro back.
The Lakers won this round but LeBron had to play 38 minutes. He can't do that all season, not at his age. He hasn't played in a week due to a sore ankle so he was very rested last night. In the end it was LeBron taking over the game in the 4th quarter with a lot of help from Anthony and AD.
These teams play in Cleveland with three weeks left in the season. The Lakers will be at the end of a four-game road trip playing their 4th game in six days. I like the Cavs chances in that one.