The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their 14th win on the season and pushed its already franchise-best road record to 10-0 after claiming victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night.
Though for LeBron James, this game was anything but regular. James made his return to Cleveland for the first time in two years and wanted to make sure all of Ohio knew “The King” had arrived.
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Catching Up
Due to COVID-19 effectively pausing the 2019-2020 regular season in early March, James and the Lakers were not able to make their annual trip to Ohio. This would be the second game against his former team as a Laker since donning the purple and gold in 2018.
He was seen hugging former teammate Cedi Osman while also renewing his special handshake with Kevin Love pregame. James is always going to have “love” for his former teammates as they helped him deliver the Cavaliers’ lone NBA championship in 2016, ending Cleveland’s 52-year title drought.
The 18-year veteran even brought back his infamous pregame chalk toss for the special night. But James referenced this game as “home cooking” to reporters in his postgame press conference and made sure to serve the Cavs a slice of humble pie before he left.
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Hot Start
James came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, knocking down a barrage of three-point shots. By the time the opening quarter had finished, James had tallied 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.
By halftime, Cleveland had cut down Los Angeles’ 11-point lead to seven, holding James to just six points in the quarter. The Cavaliers were able to slow down the Lakers’ high-scoring offense even more by outscoring them 31-22 in the third quarter, and carried an 89-87 lead into the fourth.
On the final possession of the third quarter, James missed a 14-foot shot over Cavaliers forward Taurean Prince and could hear some chirping coming from the Cleveland bench. LBJ took notice and shared his thoughts with reporters on the unnamed individual via his postgame video conference.
“He was really excited about me missing that shot. A little bit more extra than I would have liked,” James said in his postgame interview. “So I knew I had another quarter, and the fourth quarter’s my favorite.”
James could smell blood in the water and turned in a fourth quarter for the ages.
Winning Time
King James, as he often does, turned back the clock in the fourth and there was nothing the Cavs could do to stop him. At the 4:40 mark of the final period, James hit a shot from the Cleveland “C” logo that drew awes from the crowd. This shot only put the Lakers ahead 103-98 with still four minutes to play, but this was James’ game to win.
With L.A. up now 113-107 with just over a minute left to play, James hit the dagger. He dribbled into the right corner, backed down Cavaliers’ budding star Collin Sexton and drained his patented fadeaway jumper right in front of the Cleveland bench.
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The 18-year veteran outscored the Cavs by himself in the fourth, 21-19 and finished the game with a season-high 46 points on an efficient 73.1% shooting from the field. LeBron also became the oldest Laker to score 40 points in a game since the late Kobe Bryant dropped 60 in his final game in 2016.
Vintage LeBron
After Monday night’s 115-108 victory over the Cavs, James now boasts a 15-1 record over his former teams (per ESPN.com). The 46 points scored by James in last night’s game was the most he has scored against the team he twice called home.
This brought back flashbacks of his first official game back in Cleveland after signing with the Miami Heat in 2010. In that game, James dropped 38 points in the Heat’s victory all while being welcomed with a plethora of boos and signs that read “Quitness”.
With now having delivered on his promise to bring a championship back to Cleveland, James was greeted with cheers. The 2,000 fans in attendance could only watch in awe of the brilliant performance put on by their hometown hero. Just know when ‘The King” is in town, these games just hit different for the kid from Akron.
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