Cleveland Cavaliers @ Los Angeles Lakers
Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at 9:00 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22400454
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 30 23 25 32 110CLE 34 24 29 35 122
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Cavaliers beat Lakers 122-110 for 8th straight win and spoil LeBron's first game since turning 40
LOS ANGELES -- — Jarrett Allen scored a season-high 27 points, Donovan Mitchell added 26 and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their eighth straight, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 122-110 Wednesday night and spoiling LeBron James ' first game after turning 40.
James, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, scored 23 points as he became the first player in NBA history to appear in a game in his teens and 40s. Coincidentally, the milestone game came against the team that drafted James first overall in 2003 and where he spent 12 seasons in two stints.
The Akron, Ohio, native helped lead the Cavaliers to their first NBA championship in 2016.
Evan Mobley added 20 points for Cleveland, which enters the new year with an NBA-best 29-4 record, including a 9-0 against the Western Conference.
Austin Reaves had a season-high 35 points with 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Lakers. Anthony Davis added 28 points and 13 rebounds.
Los Angeles goes into 2025 with an 18-14 mark, seventh in the Western Conference.
Takeaways Cavaliers: Sam Merrill sprained his right ankle during the second quarter and did not return. Darius Garland had a season-high 14 assists.
Lakers: Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton made their Los Angeles debuts after being acquired in a trade with Brooklyn on Monday. Milton scored six points and Finney-Smith two.
Key moment Cleveland led 96-80 less than three minutes into the fourth quarter before Los Angeles started to rally. The Lakers got within 112-107 before the Cavaliers closed the game on a 10-3 run. Allen's dunk with 1:58 remaining gave Cleveland a 116-107 advantage, putting it out of reach.
Key stat The Cavaliers made 18 3-pointers, the seventh straight game they have had at least that many from beyond the arc.
Up next The Cavaliers wrap up their road trip at Dallas on Friday, while the Lakers host Portland on Thursday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECL C. LeVert
DG D. Garland
DM D. Mitchell
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
JA J. Allen
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
TJ T. Jerome
LALAD A. Davis
AR A. Reaves
CR C. Reddish
DF D. Finney-Smith
DK D. Knecht
LJ L. James
MC M. Christie
RH R. Hachimura
SM S. Milton
CLE/LAL 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