The Lakers were again buried under an avalanche of Cleveland Cavaliers three-pointers, the spacing and the gaps on the court pulling the Lakers’ defense to all corners before it eventually snapped under tension.
The result was the same, but the process and team the Cavaliers beat Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena in the final game of 2024 was fundamentally different from the one they blew out on Oct. 30 in Cleveland.
The version of the Lakers that got smoked in Cleveland was the one trying to get the most out of a formula that had already shown it had a ceiling, losing during the previous two postseasons to the Denver Nuggets. It was one that hoped a core of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and DâAngelo Russell paired with a new coach could find another gear, another level.
This week, the Lakers decided that vision wouldnât end well. This week, the Lakers, at the very least, have fundamentally changed.
Read more: LeBron and Bronny James get bitter Ohio homecoming during Lakers’ blowout loss to Cavs
While the NBAâs best team at 29-4 swatted every Lakers push away, usually with some combination of backbreaking threes from Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley or reserve Max Strus, the Lakers showed glimpses of the ways theyâll be different moving forward. Better or worse remains to be seen.
Reaves, again seeing his volume spike with Russell now playing for the Brooklyn Nets, led the Lakers with 35 points and 10 assists, bouncing back from a bad first shift. Davis had 28 points and 13 rebounds. And James, playing for the first time since turning 40, scored 23.
But Cleveland took 11 more threes than the Lakers and made nine more. They scored 24 points off offensive rebounds to the Lakersâ 12. And, despite playing Monday in San Francisco, they set the tempo and physicality early as the Lakers quickly chased double digits.
Read more: Lakers acquire Dorian Finney-Smith by trading DâAngelo Russell to the Nets
Dorian Finney-Smith played 21 minutes in his Lakers debut, scoring on a putback dunk but coming up empty on his other three shots. Shake Milton, playing because guard Gabe Vincent missed Tuesdayâs game with an oblique injury, hit a pair of threes in his 10 minutes, but the Lakersâ second unit without Russell was badly outscored 32-12.
Cleveland, looking very much like a fully-formed team as the calendar flips over to 2025, managed to have five players with at least 15 points led by 27 by Jarrett Allen.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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