The Cleveland Cavaliers put up a tough fight but were just no match for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Absolutely no one will fault the Cleveland Cavaliers and the effort they put forth in their 115-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday. Cleveland refused to give up and fought all the way to the end, but were just not able to put together enough to come out victorious.
There were a few times early that is looked like a repeat of Sunday night’s dismal performance could be in the cards, but that was not the case. Instead of rolling over and accepting this loss, the Cavs rallied and pushed the Lakers to the edge. Ultimately, LeBron James was the difference for Los Angeles as he dropped a casual 46 points on the Cavs.
Big game ‘Dre
Andre Drummond led the Cavaliers in points and rebounds with 25 and 17 respectively. Drummond putting together games like this is essentially the expectation this season. The Cavaliers big man has been a consistent source of scoring and rebounding that has made an impact for Cleveland so far this season.
Streaky Cedi
If there is one thing that everyone knows about Cedi Osman is that he is streaky. There are times where Cedi can be red hot and others where he is ice cold, tonight was the former. Osman made 5 of 7 three-point attempts and was instrumental early in the 3rd quarter when the Cavaliers cut into and eventually took the lead. Osman was Cleveland’s second-highest scorer with 20 points.
Spotty Sexton
As per usual, Collin Sexton made some incredible plays and drained a couple three-pointers. The only issue is that this was a volume shooting effort as Sexton went 6-17 from the field. This was tied for Sexton’s worst shooting performance this season which was a loss against the New York Knicks in December. Things should look up for Sexton once his running mate returns to the starting lineup.
Garland rounding into form
This was expected to be the last game that Darius Garland comes off the bench while working back from injury. Garland played 26 minutes and was impressive in his limited minutes. The other half of SexLand finished with 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting and 5 assists. Once Garland is reincorporated back into starting lineup it should make a huge difference for the Cavaliers.
