The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 120-111, on Wednesday night, as Kobe Bryant played his final game in Cleveland.
The Los Angeles Lakers fell behind early, as LeBron James and company jumped out to a 17-point lead just shy of eight minutes into the game. The Lakers would put together a run and trim that lead to 10 points by the end of the quarter, but this game never truly offered a fair matchup.
The Cavaliers offer the best record in the Eastern Conference, while the Lakers feature the worst mark in the Western Conference.
Still, the Lakers battled back to within five points early in the second quarter, but the hometown Cavaliers did not take long to reestablish their basketball dominance. Led by James' 17 points and eight assists in the first half, the Cavs opened up a 64-47 lead at the intermission.
In the third period, the Cavs led by as many as 22 points, and the visitors failed to threaten the home team. Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers in the third period with 10 points, as James added another nine points in the quarter.
By the end of the third period, the Cavs led 93-74, as the Lakers slowly trudged to their 44th loss in only 55 games.
In the fourth period, Bryant came to life momentarily and even managed a four-point play that helped the Lakers to claw within single digits in the final six minutes of the game. However, James and Irving would lead the Cavs' charge and hold off the Lakers.
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Irving would finish with a season-high 35 points, while James tabbed an impressive 29 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Bryant scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, but LA failed to threaten the Cavaliers in any meaningful manner. Per usual, Bryant left the game to chants of "Kobe."
Until next time Lebron pic.twitter.com/Rr2i4ts0RP — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 11, 2016
With the loss, the Lakers moved to 11-44, while the Cavaliers moved to 38-14.
Notes: Cavaliers forward Kevin Love left the game in the first half and did not return.
