Donovan Mitchell
Donovan Mitchell scored 29 of his 42 points in the second period to aid the Cavs in pulling away from the Lakers.
Cleveland, Ohio -(Cleveland) – Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 43 points, and Jarrett Allen returned from injury to score 24 points, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-102 victory on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers in LeBron James’ first visit to Cleveland this season.
In the absence of Anthony Davis, missing the final three quarters due to an illness, Cleveland rose to an NBA-leading 11-1 record on their court, which is their most successful home start since 2015-16 when James played in a title win for them.
Mitchell, the player who has Cleveland fans fantasizing about another title, took over in the second quarter scoring 29 points, the same kind of play James was able to deliver in his 11 seasons with the Cavs consistently.
With Cleveland leading by 12 in the fourth quarter, Mitchell shot a 3-pointer from the left side to win the Lakers. After he sank the shot and he was off, the All-Star guard was seen walking across his floor of the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse floor, nodding his head in the direction of James. James was watching helplessly.
Darius Garland added 11 assists and 21 points for Cleveland.
James had 17 rebounds and 21 points. James lost just three times in the last 20 games against Cavs.
Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook scored 16 points each. Russell Westbrook scored 16 points each. Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak ended.
Davis was forced to leave after an hour of symptoms resembling flu. Davis, an eight-time All-Star, scored 99 points during the previous two games and had played as he had throughout his career, despite having been plagued by injuries.
Davis did not attempt a field goal, scoring only one point before he left.
Without Davis blocking in the center, Allen has been absent for the last five games because of an injured back and hit the first 10 of his shots. He also led the Cavs to a 57-49 lead at halftime.
The Cavs were delighted to welcome James back by presenting a video tribute to him in the early timeout. After a collection of videos, including ones from 2016, James made a gesture to the fans and then gave a kiss to express his appreciation.
The warm atmosphere was quite different from what occurred about 12 years ago when James returned with his band, the Miami Heat, and was met by boos and many other fans in an evening James has declared he’ll never forget.
GRUDGE MATCH
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was unaware of James his supremacy over his Cavaliers team until it came up in his pregame interview.
Ham explains why James decides to take it out on Cleveland.
“Either Ham likes putting on a show, or he really does not like (Cavs manager) Dan Gilbert,” Ham laughed.
James and Gilbert experienced an infamous fallout after the four-time champion moved to Miami as an unsigned free agent in 2010.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Davis was limited to 76 games during the two seasons prior because of injuries. Los Angeles has yet to win a game in which it did not have a lead at halftime and has lost all nine. The Lakers are losing 0-10 after trailing for three quarters.
Cavaliers: Kevin Love came to the top of the league with 13 points drawn. … Champion of competitive eating Joey Chestnut scarfed down more than 40 pierogies in the halftime break to beat three fans who were unable to beat him by combining their numbers.
Next
The Lakers will continue their six-game tour to Toronto this Wednesday.
Cavaliers, The Cavaliers will host Sacramento the following Friday.
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