LOS ANGELES: A night after the Cavaliers drew criticism for sitting their Big Three in a nationally televised game, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love treated Los Angeles Lakers fans in the Staples Center Sunday to a spectacular display of basketball skills.
Skills that were embarrassingly lacking when the trio watched from the bench against the Clippers, Irving and Love with injury issues.
But the rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers weren’t in awe. The young team with the second-worst record in the league and a rookie coach in Luke Walton turned what might have been expected to be a glorified practice into a tough test. Led by former Ohio State star D’Angelo Russell’s career-high 40 points, the Lakers led for much of the game before the Cavs pulled out a 125-120 victory.
The Cavs became the first team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff spot with the victory. They lead the Eastern Conference by 2½ games over Boston as the Celtics, again without Isaiah Thomas, lost to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the day.
If disgruntled L.A. basketball fans had tickets for the Cavs’ back-to-back, the Big Three didn’t disappoint.
Irving had recorded his 18th consecutive game with at least 20 points by halftime and finished with 46, 14 in the fourth quarter. Irving fell just short of his season-high of 49 at New Orleans in January. Love, in his second game back from arthroscopic knee surgery, scored 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in 26 minutes. James totaled 34 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
The injury-plagued Cavs were still not whole and saw two more players dinged.
They got another scare with about eight minutes left in the second quarter when point guard Deron Williams took himself out and headed for the locker room holding his left thumb. Williams returned in the third quarter.
Next to go was Tristan Thompson, who appeared to be hit by the Lakers’ Julius Randle with 3:15 left in the third quarter. Thompson suffered a mouth injury and did not return. Randle was assessed a technical foul for what the stat sheet called a hostile act. Thompson’s agent, Rich Paul, later left his seat, presumably to check on Thompson, who has played in 439 consecutive regular-season games, the longest active streak in the league.
The Cavs’ Kyle Korver missed his seventh consecutive game with a sore tendon in his left foot and coach Tyronn Lue wasn’t sure about Korver’s status for Wednesday’s game in Denver.
The game was entertaining and the energy in the building much more palpable than in Saturday’s 30-point Cavs’ loss.
Watching from a few rows behind the Cavs’ bench were James’ family — sons LeBron Jr. and Bryce; daughter Zhuri; James’ wife, Savannah; and mother, Gloria. James’ business partners Maverick Carter and Paul sat courtside, as did Cavs owner Dan Gilbert.
Among those in the crowd were actors Denzel Washington, spotted in the media dining room before the game, and Jack Nicholson. The stars still come out for the Lakers more than the playoff-bound Clippers, which gave Staples Center a Madison Square Garden vibe.
Former Ohio State star Russell played as if this game were nationally televised. Russell topped his career-high of 39 points, that coming on March 1 against Brooklyn. Russell hit 14-of-22 field goals and 7-of-12 3-pointers, while adding two rebounds and six assists.
In the first half, turnovers were an issue for the Cavs, with seven giveaways leading to 10 points. Five came in the second quarter. But the Cavs got that issue rectified in the second half, committing only three more the rest of the way, just one in the fourth quarter.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.