The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to struggle midway through the season as every player appears to be opperating under a different game plan. Even after trades for Iman Shumpert, JR Smith and Timofey Mozgov, things are still sputtering as the team has lost five straight including eight of their last nine games. They are officially under .500 and in need of a dominating win. If history proves anything, that will come Thursday as they play the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that LeBron James has dominated in recent years.
James returned to the lineup Tuesday, but it simply was not enough to get the Cavaliers the win. After missing eight games with knee soreness, James put up 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting, but Cleveland lost 107-100. James certainly did not look like a player with knee issues, but the same cannot be said for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love who both struggled finishing with nine points each. Irving had eight turnovers while Love sat the entire fourth quarter. Both Irving and Love have struggled to adjust this season and the Cavaliers need them to improve if they are going to start looking like contenders.
The Lakers are on pace to win 26 games this season as head coach Byron Scott intends to shut down Kobe Bryant if the team is not in playoff contention come March. The veteran has one more year left in the league and the Lakers intend to use him as a recruiting tool in free agency this summer. Bryant is expected to play Thursday after sitting with health issues as well. The Lakers are fresh off a loss to the Miami Heat where Bryant struggled heavily going 3 for 19 with just a 15.8 field goal percentage.
The battle between James and Bryant has been incredibly one-sided. James has won the past 12 of 15 games dating back to 2006. Bryant only averaged 24.7 points per game when James played for Miami as the Cavaliers star was putting up 28.9 per game.
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