LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers humiliated the Cleveland Cavaliers while sending them to their 11th straight loss, rolling to a 112-57 victory on Tuesday night in their best defensive performance in the shot clock era.
Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum each scored 15 points, while Pau Gasol had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown also scored 13 points for the defending NBA champion Lakers, who led the league’s worst team by 32 points at halftime on their way to winning their fifth in a row.
Reserves Alonzo Gee scored 12 points and Ramon Sessions 10. Cleveland’s point total was a record low by a Lakers opponent. The Cavs shot 30 percent, were outscored 52-28 in the paint and committed 19 turnovers in losing for the 21st time in their last 22 games. They fell to 8-30 overall, 3-18 on the road and 1-5 against the Western Conference.
Brown hit a 3-pointer from just inside halfcourt to end the third quarter and give Los Angeles a 92-41 lead, the first time an NBA team has led by that many after three since Nov. 8, 2001, when Chicago was ahead of Minnesota.
Since LeBron James’ offseason departure, the Cavaliers have gone from being a perennial playoff team that went 7-3 against the Lakers in their previous 10 meetings to a team struggling with injuries and mounting losses.
And after their acrimonious parting, James seems to be taking delight in his former team’s embarrassing performance. While it wasn’t clear what he was referring to on Twitter, he posted this while the game was getting out of hand: “Crazy. Karma is a b.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”
The Cavs were without starting center Anderson Varejao, who tore his right ankle in a routine conditioning drill. Also missing were missing Joey Graham (right quad strain), Daniel Gibson (left ankle sprain), Leon Powe (right torn meniscus) and Anthony Parker (lower back strain).
Notes: The Lakers improved to 6-2 in the first game of back-to-backs. They’ll visit Golden State on Wednesday. … Gibson rejoined the Cavs in Los Angeles and will continue rehabbing his left ankle sprain as the team travels to Utah and Denver. … Lakers F Matt Barnes had surgery on a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee earlier Tuesday. He’s expected to be out eight weeks. … Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, delivered the ball to center court before the game.
LeBron sees ‘karma’ in Cavs’ 55-point loss
CLEVELAND – LeBron James has tweaked Dan Gilbert — and the Cavaliers owner’s miserable NBA team — with a pointed tweet.
As James’ former teammates were absorbing a 55-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, the player fired off a message on his Twitter account that seemed to be directed at Gilbert.
James wrote: “Crazy. Karma is a b—-.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”
In July, after James announced he was leaving for Miami, Gilbert wrote a scathing letter to Cleveland fans questioning the two-time MVP’s character and predicting he would take Cleveland’s curse with him “down south. … James will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.”
The 112-57 loss to the Lakers was the Cavs’ 11th straight and their most lopsided since joining the league in 1970.
Afterward, Cavs guard Mo Williams tweeted: “embarrassing, I feel like I can’t even show my face in Cleve.”
James and Gilbert have been at odds since the summer, when the superstar decided to join forces in Miami with fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In an interview with The Associated Press in the hours after James’ announcement during an hour-long TV special, Gilbert accused James of quitting in the playoffs the past two seasons.
And while both insist they’ve moved on, James’ tweet seems to show he has lingering bitterness toward Gilbert.
His social network message was poorly received in Cleveland, where fans still feel betrayed by him spurning them. It’s bad enough the Cavs are struggling, but James decided to kick them when they’re down.
The Akron native was rudely received by Cleveland fans when he returned on Dec. 2. The Heat demolished the Cavs 118-90 that night, and both teams haven’t been the same since. Miami has gone 19-1 after their visit too Cleveland, while the Cavs are 1-20.
Little has gone right this season for Cleveland, which got off to a 7-9 start. But the losses have been mounting along with several key injuries. Last week, hustling center Anderson Varejao suffered a season-ending injury when he tore an ankle tendon during a non-contact running drill in practice.
But the Cavs, who had the league’s best regular-season record the past two seasons with James, were playing poorly before Varejao went down. Now, they can only hope they’ve reached rock bottom.
In their epic loss to the Lakers, the Cavs played three rookies for long stretches and established a new team record for fewest points. They also sustained their worst loss since getting beat 141-87 in the 11th game of their inaugural 1970 season.
The Lakers nearly doubled Cleveland’s point total. It was so bad that the Lakers could have gone scoreless in the second half — and still forced overtime! The blowout was especially disturbing to first-year Cleveland coach Byron Scott, a proud member of the Lakers’ “Showtime” teams.
“I thought that was embarrassing,” Scott said. “I told them at halftime, ‘You look scared. You look scared to death.’ That was my take on it, as simple as that.”
Cavs forward Antawn Jamison was at a loss for words.
“In 13 years, I can honestly say I ain’t ever felt that embarrassed to be on the basketball court,” he said. “There’s nothing else you can really say.”
Cavaliers humiliated by 55-point loss to Lakers
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Cleveland Cavaliers’ most lopsided loss ever has their players feeling humiliated, dejected and running for cover.
“I feel like I can’t even show my face in Cleve,” guard Mo Williams said on his Twitter account after the Los Angeles Lakers crushed the Cavaliers 112-57 Tuesday.
The loss set club records for margin of defeat and fewest points in a game. It also established a Lakers record for fewest points allowed in a game.
Cleveland has an NBA-worst 8-30 record, having dropped 11 in a row and 21 of their last 22 games.
“It can’t get any worse than this,” Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison told reporters. “I don’t know how much of this I can take but this by far is rock bottom.
“It’s definitely, by far, one of the most embarrassing moments that I’ve been a part of as far as the game of basketball.”
Even LeBron James seems to have gotten into the act. Although he never specifically mentioned Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers’ owner appears to have been the intended target on James’s Twitter account.
“Karma is a b****.. Gets you every time,” the departed Cavalier tweeted after the Lakers blow-out. “Its (sic) not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”
Gilbert had berated James last summer after he left to join All-Stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat, saying James will bring his “bad karma” to South Florida.
The Cavaliers had been one of the NBA’s top teams before James left. But he is not the only reason for their slump.
Injuries have hit Cleveland hard with starters Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker all missing the Lakers game.
“They are going through rough times,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said. “It’s unfortunate. Fortune is not on their side right now as far as staying healthy.