Cavaliers vs. Lakers Takeaways: Kobe’s Final Battle In Cleveland

The Cleveland Cavaliers took down the Los Angeles Lakers 120-111 in their last game before the All-Star Break.

In 1997 during NBA All-Star weekend, an 18 year old Kobe Bryant came into Cleveland and won the dunk contest. That night in Gund Arena was when Bryant made his first real mark on the NBA. Five championships, two Finals MVPs, one NBA MVP and 20 seasons later, Bryant made his final stop in Northeastern Ohio.

Before tip-off, the Cavaliers organization put together a tribute video for Bryant, honoring his long, illustrious NBA career.

When it was time to introduce Bryant to the Quicken Loans Arena crowd, the place erupted.

Bryant’s performance during the game was right around what he’s been averaging during his final season. He scored 17 points on 5/16 shooting while tallying eight rebounds and three assists. For a good part of the game he was matched up with long time rival/friend LeBron James. The sight of them playing on and against each other one last time was something I’m sure most, if not all NBA fans will remember.

The moment of the night was when Bryant was taken out of the game with 40 seconds left to play. He walked off the court to a standing ovation from the Q crowd. Before he went to take his place on the bench, Bryant embraced James and shared a moment with him.

As for the rest of the game… it was all Cavaliers from the opening tip to the final whistle. The Cavs were clearly the dominant team and showed it by not allowing the Lakers to grab a lead at any point during the game. The 1-2 punch of Kyrie Irving and James helped lead the way for the wine and gold, scoring a combined 64 points. Irving scored a game high 35 on 15/24 shooting while dishing out seven assists. James picked up yet another double-double after dropping 29 points on 12/22 shooting and picking up 11 assists.

The difference should have been greater than nine points but a fourth quarter push from L.A. almost made it a game. It started with a Jordan Clarkson three, then Bryant converted on a four-point play. D’Angelo Russell sank two free throws after drawing a foul.

Irving hit a jumper to briefly stop the bleeding and it was very brief. On the other end of the floor he fouled Bryant while he was attempting a three. Of course Bryant hit all three free-throws and brought it to an eight point game with 3:33 left to play.

The Cavs built the lead back up with help after three pointers from J.R. Smith and James. The game was all over by then.

Here’s some thoughts about the game/first half of the season.

Kevin Love’s Shoulder Scared Everyone Again:

Cavs’ fans saw the season flash before their eyes after Kevin Love came up grabbing his left shoulder after posting up Bryant with 46 seconds left in the first half. Love attempted a baby hook shot and immediately felt some discomfort in the same left shoulder he injured in the playoffs last season after Kelly Olynyk did his best impression of an arm-bar on him.

The situation was much like last seasons because Love rushed straight to the locker room after it happened and didn’t see another second of action. The initial reaction was another possible separation based on how limp his shoulder looked, but in the post game interview Love described it as just a “stinger.”

The last thing the Cavaliers needed going into the All-Star break was another injury to Love so thankfully they avoided that.

The Cavs Can’t Let Lazy Quarters Be A Trend:

There’s been a trend where the Cavs seem to lose interest in the game or go ice cold shooting the ball and allow other teams who have no business being in the game, back into it. We saw it against the Celtics in the second quarter. The Cavs had control of the game early but a 17 point second quarter swung any momentum they had the other way. Boston fought their way back into the game including a 39 point fourth quarter and eventually won on an Avery Bradley buzzer-beater.

This trend happened once again after the Cavs allowed the Lakers to score 37 points in the fourth and eventually bring the game within eight points.

You can get away with slacking off against bad teams like L.A. but it’s a habit they need to get rid of immediately. Every team will have their bad games or bad quarters from time to time but it’s almost every game the Cavs have a quarter where they look like a completely different team.

In order to be able to compete against the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs, the Cavs need to make sure they fix this trend.

First Half Summary:

It’s been a strange first half of the season. There was no Irving or Iman Shumpert for a good part of the season. There was Timofey Mozgov just disappearing at times while playing basketball. There was the rise of Matthew Dellavedova as a real back-up point guard. There was David Blatt’s firing and a behind the scenes look of why it happened from Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. And lastly there was the hiring of Tyronn Lue.

With all that has happened, the Cavaliers sit atop of the Eastern Conference with a 38-14 record and will go into the All-Star break as the #1 seed in the East. The goal of this team is to make it back to the NBA Finals and bring Cleveland their first championship. Right now they’re on track to make it back to the Finals but still have a long way to go if they want to compete with the Warriors or Spurs.

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They’ve only played 11 games under Tyronn Lue and have gone 8-3 during this stretch. It’s an extremely small sample size but they look more motivated and willing to play for Lue compared to their body language when Blatt was at the helm.

I think this team is still on the rise and hasn’t even reached their potential yet with Lue coaching. A coach players actually want to play for can elevate a team to levels that talent alone can’t take them. Lue still has to learn how to become a head coach in the NBA but so far he’s doing a pretty good job at it.

Look for the Cavs to have an even stronger second half of the season and gain the momentum they need leading into the playoffs.