Love Scores 32 To Help Cavs Rout Lakers 120-105
CLEVELAND (AP) Kevin Love scored a season-high 32 points, LeBron James flirted with a triple-double and the Cleveland Cavaliers quickly got back to winning with a 120-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
The Cavs had their 12-game winning streak snapped Friday, a run that started when they beat the Lakers on Jan. 15. This time, Love made five 3-pointers in the second quarter and two more in the third as Cleveland opened a 26-point lead.
James scored 22 with 10 rebounds and eight assists in three quarters. All-Star guard Kyrie Irving added 28 points and 10 assists.
Rookie Jordan Clarkson scored a career-high 20 for the Lakers, who matched a franchise worst with their 10th straight road loss. Los Angeles hasn't won away from Staples Center since Dec. 30 at Denver. The Lakers also lost 10 in a row on the road in 1957-58 and 1963-64.
Two days earlier, the Cavs missed a chance to match their club record for consecutive victories when they were beaten at Indiana. Cleveland didn't need long to get back on track, overwhelming a young Lakers team ravaged by injuries and missing superstar Kobe Bryant.
The Cavs turned to Love, who finished 11 of 18 from the field and added 10 rebounds, to try to begin a new winning streak. Cleveland made 18 3-pointers, one shy of the team record.
James didn't show any signs of being slowed by a nagging ankle or wrist injury, and the large lead allowed coach David Blatt to rest his best player for the entire fourth quarter.
The Cavs have struggled at times to keep Love in the offensive flow this season -- he had two five-point games last week. But that wasn't the case in the first half, when he scored 22, including 17 in the second quarter.
Spotting up on the perimeter, Love knocked down four 3s in a span of 2:07. Love's first made it 53-41, and by the time he dropped his last one -- off an alert assist from James -- the Cavs had built their lead to 62-43.
Cleveland's most sensational play of the first half came on a lobbed inbounds pass from Irving to Iman Shumpert, who outmuscled Lakers forward Carlos Boozer for the ball and delivered a contest-worthy dunk.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Coach Byron Scott spent three years with the Cavs before he was fired after the 2012-13 season. Scott said the rebuilding project underway with the Lakers is similar to his experience with a young team in Cleveland. Scott said returning "reminds me of how cold it was. Being back in L.A. for two years, I guess your blood gets a little thin again and you forget how cold it can be in other places." ... G Jeremy Lin finished with 11 points in 20 minutes. He had been questionable with the stomach flu.
Cavaliers: Cleveland has won eight straight over Western Conference teams. ... A moment of silence was observed for legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith, who died Saturday. C Brendan Haywood was recruited by Smith, who retired shortly before his freshman season. Still, Smith had a major influence on Haywood's life. "He was about developing you as a man," Haywood said. "I couldn't be here without him."
UP NEXT
Lakers: Host Denver on Tuesday.
Cavaliers: Host Miami on Wednesday
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