Depleted Lakers beat Cavaliers, 119-108
Mark Duncan. AP FILE PHOTO
CLEVELAND — The depleted Los Angeles Lakers had to keep Robert Sacre on the court after he fouled out in the fourth quarter of a 119-108 victory at the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Rookie Ryan Kelly scored a career-high 26 points and Steve Blake had his first career triple-double for Los Angeles, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Lakers went 18 for 37 from 3-point range.
But Los Angeles’ first win in two weeks was overshadowed by a bizarre ending.
The Lakers had eight available players coming into the game. Then Nick Young twisted his left knee in the first half and Chris Kaman fouled out early in the fourth quarter. When Jordan Farmar left with an injury in the final period, that put Los Angeles at five players.
Sacre committed his sixth foul with 3:32 remaining, but stayed in the game because coach Mike D’Antoni was out of healthy bodies. The Lakers were assessed a technical foul.
Farmar scored 21 points and Wesley Johnson added 20 for the Lakers, who shot 53 percent from the field. Blake had 11 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.
C.J. Miles led Cleveland with 27 points. All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was taken out with 7:32 remaining in the third quarter and finished with 11 points as the Cavaliers lost their sixth consecutive game.
The Lakers built a 29-point lead in the second quarter and led 96-68 late in the third period before the Cavaliers rallied. Cleveland cut the lead to 100-90 early in the fourth and got to 114-108 before Blake’s 3-pointer with 56.9 seconds left finally sealed the win.
The Lakers were without Steve Nash (rest), Jodie Meeks (sprained ankle) and Jordan Hill (strained neck). Pau Gasol (groin) and Kobe Bryant (knee) remained in Los Angeles for the three-game road trip.
While the Cavaliers were off Tuesday, the Lakers lost in Minnesota and flew through a snowstorm to arrive in Cleveland around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
While Los Angeles had 22 assists on 25 field goals while building a 70-49 halftime lead, Cleveland’s offense was stagnant. The Cavaliers shot 37 percent from the field and were 1 of 18 on 3-pointers.
The Cavaliers went 3-2 on a West Coast trip last month, but their season has since fallen apart. Cleveland went 1-4 on its longest homestand of the season and then lost three consecutive road games, including an embarrassing 31-point setback against the Knicks on national television.
Nash played for the first time since Nov. 10 on Tuesday night after being out because of a nerve problem in his back. Meeks sprained his right ankle about a minute into Tuesday’s game and Hill was elbowed in the head by Kaman.
