Lakers at Cavaliers
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James square off for the first of two times this
season when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on
Wednesday. Bryant is retiring after another dreadful season for the
Lakers while James and the Cavaliers are aiming to make a title run
after recently firing coach David Blatt.
James had a triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) in Monday's 120-100 rout of the Sacramento Kings and is looking forward to Bryant's final appearance in Cleveland. "Anytime I even watch his games, even when I'm not playing him, it's always, like, very emotional just knowing it's his last hurrah," James told reporters of Bryant. "And he's done so much, not only for the Lakers organization, but for me as a kid growing up watching Kobe and things of that nature and also competing against him." Bryant has turned the clock back by averaging 26.4 points over the past five games but he was just 6-of-25 shooting for 19 points in Monday's 89-87 loss to the Indiana Pacers. "Sometimes you live and die with it," Lakers coach Byron Scott told reporters of Bryant's shooting. "And I’m willing to do it with him."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles), FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (11-43): Los Angeles has lost 12 of its last 14 games and Bryant's final campaign is overshadowing the improvement of youngsters Julius Randle and D'Angelo Russell. Randle has 21 double-doubles after recording 15 points and a career-best 19 rebounds in Monday's 89-87 loss to the Indiana Pacers and Russell had 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and a career-best four steals. "He's been fantastic," Scott told reporters of Randle. "If you look at his stats, besides the turnovers, other than that he's playing just great basketball. ... He's rebounding the hell out of the ball."
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (37-14): Point guard Kyrie Irving is in top form and matched his season high of 32 points and equaled his career best of 12 assists against Sacramento. Irving is averaging 25.7 points over the last seven games and has scored 25 or more points in five of them. Shooting guard J.R. Smith is also on a roll with three straight 20-point outings while going 17-of-39 from 3-point range to raise his career total to 1,601 - the 18th player to reach 1,600 in NBA history.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Cavaliers have won four of the past six meetings.
2. Cleveland PF Kevin Love (quadriceps) had just 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting against the Kings after a one-game absence.
3. Los Angeles C Roy Hibbert (ankle) is probable after missing Monday's game versus Indiana.