Cavaliers at Lakers
LeBron James will not be on the floor when his new team hosts his old team, and the Los Angeles Lakers can commiserate with the Cleveland Cavaliers when it comes to scratching together wins without the superstar. The Cavaliers own the worst record in the NBA and will be attempting to snap a 12-game losing streak when they visit the Lakers on Sunday.
Cleveland reached the NBA Finals while being led by James in each of the last four seasons but fell off a cliff with the superstar gone and other key injuries ravaging the roster, and it allowed an average of 140.5 points in dropping the first two of a six-game road trip. "We don't have good defenders. Period," an anonymous player told Cleveland.com. "Watch the tape. You can see it. You can't hide them. Those teams will find the two of them in particular and attack, attack, attack. There are times when analytics and numbers are just numbers. This is not one of those times." The Lakers are 3-6 in nine games since James went down with a groin injury, and while he is participating in shooting drills and is scheduled to be evaluated next week, there is no firm timetable for his return. Los Angeles shot 35.9 percent from the floor and went 5-of-27 from beyond the arc in a 113-95 loss at the Utah Jazz on Friday.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, FS Ohio (Cleveland), Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (8-35): Cleveland allowed the Houston Rockets to shoot 51.7 percent from the floor and watched superstar James Harden go off for 43 points in Friday's 141-113 setback. "How many games has it been? At this point, we've taught everything we can teach," center Tristan Thompson, who is one of the few remaining healthy players from the team James took to the NBA Finals last spring, told reporters. "Now it's up to the players to come out there and just do their job. Do your job. Simple. Our players didn't do their job." The Cavaliers fell to 3-18 on the road with Friday's setback and still have visits scheduled to Portland, Utah and Denver on the current trip.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (23-20): Power forward Kyle Kuzma is trying to step up in James' absence but is struggling with his consistency. The Utah product scored a career-high 41 points on 16-of-24 shooting in a home win over Detroit on Wednesday but slumped to 11 points on 4-of-18 in Friday's setback. "I think I just missed a couple bunnies I usually make around the rim, got a few shots blocked, but like you say I'm never really worried," Kuzma told reporters. "Nine times out of 10 I'm going to make shots around the rim that I missed tonight."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers C Ante Zizic scored a season-high 18 points in Friday's setback.
2. Lakers SF Michael Beasley left Friday's game with a hand injury, but x-rays came back negative and he is day-to-day.
3. Los Angeles took a 109-105 decision at Cleveland on Nov. 21, with James scoring 32 points in his return.