LeBron James found a way to lead his team to a tough 109-105 win in Cleveland once again, but this time the Cavaliers were on the wrong end of things, as James’ visiting Los Angeles Lakers’ team got the W.
The Cleveland Cavaliers brought the fight on Wednesday night. They started off strong and jumped out to an early lead thanks to a strong first quarter from Collin Sexton who recorded eight of his 13 points in the opening frame. LeBron James shook off his shaky start and brought the Lakers back into the game in the second quarter with 12 points on five-of-five shooting.
The second half was back and forth. The Cavs took a late eight-point lead with just over five minutes left in the fourth thanks to an offensive explosion from Jordan Clarkson. But, LeBron proved to be too much in the fourth quarter as he led his team back with 11 points in the final frame. Kyle Korver had an open three pointer late which would’ve tied the game, but it didn’t fall.
LeBron was outstanding once again as he finished with 32 points, 14 boards, and seven assists in the win. But the bigger story was his reception by the fans tonight. The day started for James with a trip to his school in Akron and culminated with thunderous applause all night.
LeBron was thankful for the ovation he received from the Cleveland crowd: "It was a great moment." pic.twitter.com/wQgaV7RWQr
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) November 22, 2018
On the court, Cedi Osman led the way for the Cavs with 21 points on seven-of-13 shooting with seven boards and two assists. Jordan Clarkson also contributed 20 points in the loss.
Here’s what we learned from this one.