No Mo, No Sweat Cavaliers Stop Lakers 93-87

The Cleveland Cavaliers have swept the home and home series with the Los Angeles Lakers winning Thursday night at the Q Arena in Cleveland 93-87. The Cavaliers went into the game without a main cog as starting point guard Mo Williams will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks after suffering a left shoulder strain against Toronto Tuesday. However LeBron James had a game high 37 points and big nights from some of Cleveland’s big men helped them get the victory. Kobe Bryant had 31 points for Los Angeles but the team shot just 38.6% (32-83) from the floor for the night.

Delonte West is taking Williams spot in the staring rotation and although he did not have a strong night statistically he did stay on the floor for 43 minutes. The Cavaliers looked totally dazed and confused in the first as Los Angeles pulled out to a 27-18 advantage at the end of the period. Cleveland would have the hot hand in the second quarter and they would trail just by 2 points as the contest reached the half with the Lakers lead at 46-44.

The score was tied in the third quarter with 1 minute left to play in the period when LBJ knocked down a mid-range jumper and the Cavaliers would hold the slim lead at the conclusion of the quarter 67-65. With 1:31 left to play in regulation Kobe Bryant buried an outside and knotted the score up at 87-87. Those would be the last points the Lakers would score as Cleveland ended the game on a 6-0 run.

LeBron James dropped 37 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block while Shaquille O’Neal had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. J.J. Hickson recorded a double-double with 11 points, 14 boards and 1 assist while Anderson Varejao scored 11 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 31 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds in the loss. Pau Gasol added 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal while Lamar Odom came off the bench and had a double-double as he scored 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Cleveland is now 33-11 and will play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday while Los Angeles has a 32-10 record and will play in New York Friday as the take on the Knicks.