Back on January 11th, the Cavaliers traveled to Los Angeles and lost by an embarrassing 55 points.Just a month later, the Cavaliers shocked the NBA and beat the two-time defending champion, Los Angeles Lakers 104-99. The Cavaliers (10-46) handed the Lakers (38-19) their third straight defeat in which was the last game of the "Grammy Road Trip" for Los Angeles.
It was a turn around of 60 points for the Cavaliers from the last time these two teams met up just a month ago.
The Cavaliers not only got their revenge but they bounced back from an embarrassing lost to the Washington Wizards last Sunday. The Cavaliers played one of their most complete games this season.
The team played with a strong sense of passion right from the start of the game. They outscored the Lakers 29-21 in the first quarter and was up as many as 12 points in the 1st half.
Ramon Sessions played his best game as a Cavalier this season. He scored a season high and game high, 32 points. He also dished out eight assists as well. Sessions came off the bench behind Mo Williams, as Mo played the first three minutes of the game and did not return.
Mo Williams aggravated his ankle again and Byron Scott decided to let him rest and give him the extra time to give him a full recovery.
As for Ramon, he made his presence felt as soon as he got in the game. He pushed the tempo and got in the paint whenever he wanted. He scored 14 first quarter points and never looked back.
It was the kind of night that felt like nothing could go wrong for the Cavaliers. In the second quarter, with the shot clock winding down, Antawn Jamison shot a ball from the "C" on the Cavaliers logo and make it. Jamison finished with an impressive 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland improved effort from the last meeting showed at the end of the first half. They scored 51 first-half points compared to 57 points for the entire game in January against the Lakers.
Pau Gasol finished with a monster effort, 30 points and 20 rebounds, but it wasn't enough. The Cavaliers pushed the lead to 14 points in the second half .
Cleveland had an answer for everything the Lakers threw at them. Christian Eyenga made the highlight of the night. He posterized Gasol for a big throw down and blew the roof off the building.
Eyenga finished with a strong game. He scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting. However, he wasn't the only Cavalier with a timely bucket.
JJ Hickson also had a a strong game. He scored a respectful 13 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Hickson held up his own against the Lakers 7-footers. When the Lakers made a late-run and got it withing four in the final minutes of the game. Hickson had a momentum changing put-back slam.
Kobe Bryant, who is recovering from flu-like symptoms, didn't have much of an impact in the game. Bryant finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds but still didn't seem to be himself, especially with the game on the line.
The Lakers had 19 turnovers in the game and that lead Phil Jackson enraged. He had to call several timeouts and that lead to screaming at his players in disgust. The Lakers played sloppy all night long and it showed. In the second quarter, Gasol had the ball in his hands and threw a pass to the corner, only to find teammate Shannon Brown sitting on the bench.
The Cavaliers ended a poor first half of basketball with arguably their best win of the season.
The Cavaliers will head into the All-Star break with a lot of momentum and will look to carry that momentum into the second half of the season.
Key comment: It is kind of ironic that when the Cavaliers lost to the Lakers in January, they called the lose "rock bottom" and "embarrassing". Yet a month later, the Lakers might have just lost the worst game of the Pau Gasol era or perhaps Phil Jackson's worst lose as a Laker. So do I dare say that this lost, just a month later when it was "rock bottom" for the Cavaliers would be "rock bottom" for the two-time defending champions?
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