Cleveland Cavaliers @ Los Angeles Lakers
Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 3:30 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22301127
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 36 29 25 26 116CLE 33 23 22 19 97
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Russell, James help Lakers win 4th straight, move into 8th place with 116-97 victory over Cavaliers
LOS ANGELES -- — D’Angelo Russell scored 28 points, LeBron James added 24 and the Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to four with a 116-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, moving into eighth place in the Western Conference.
Anthony Davis added 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers improved to 45-33 with their ninth win in 10 games.
They still are in position to land in the play-in tournament, but finishing seventh or eighth means they would only need to win one game to earn a playoff spot.
“We’re very confident in our ballclub," Davis said. "We laugh about like, oh, winning nine out of 10, you know, 10 out of 11, whatever. and we’re not gaining anywhere. That's how good the West is.”
It is the first time since Dec. 29 the Lakers have been eighth in the conference. With four regular-season games remaining though, coach Darvin Ham isn't focused on seeding but on the Lakers having momentum going into the postseason.
“Just take care of us. Continue to look for ways to get better individually and collectively. Everything else will take of itself,” he said. "We’ll fall exactly in the spot we’re supposed to fall, but the key is for us to be playing at a high level on both sides of the ball.’
Darius Garland scored 26 points for Cleveland and Caris LeVert had 21 off the bench. The Cavaliers (46-32) remained in third place in the East but have dropped two straight and three of their last four.
“I thought we did some really good things in spurts. We just couldn’t sustain it enough to come out with a win,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The turnovers kind of bit us in the butt. We also forced turnovers and didn't convert on them.”
Russell had six 3-pointers, including five in the first half, when his 23 points helped the Lakers take a nine-point lead.
James improved to 18-4 against his former team, where he played for 11 seasons in two different stints. He had a pair of alley-oop dunks against the team he led to its lone NBA title in 2016.
Davis scored 11 points in the third quarter, including nine during a 19-0 run. Cleveland led 71-67 before the Lakers regained control during a four-minute span.
“Once we defend we get stops and hold teams to one shot, what we do offensively is through the roof. It's hard to contain us,” Ham said.
Los Angeles jumped out to a 16-point lead early in the second quarter with a 24-4 run before Cleveland got it down to 65-56 at halftime.
Garland, who tied a career high with five steals, had a pair of 3-pointers as the Cavaliers began the second half with an 11-2 spurt to tie it at 67-all.
UP NEXT
Cavaliers: Remain in Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Sunday afternoon.
Lakers: Host the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAD A. Davis
AR A. Reaves
CC C. Castleton
DR D. Russell
GV G. Vincent
JH J. Hayes
LJ L. James
MC M. Christie
RH R. Hachimura
SD S. Dinwiddie
TP T. Prince
CLECL C. LeVert
CP C. Porter Jr.
DG D. Garland
DM D. Mitchell
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
JA J. Allen
MM M. Morris Sr.
MS M. Strus
PN P. Nance
SM S. Merrill
TT T. Thompson
LAL/CLE the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur