Cavaliers visit Lakers seeking eighth straight win
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The red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers carry a seven-game winning streak into Sunday afternoon’s date with the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Cleveland opened its five-game road swing on Friday by cruising past the Detroit Pistons, 112-88.
On a night when standout guards Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell sat with injuries, interior play set the tone for the Cavaliers in the lopsided win. Jarrett Allen led all scorers with 23 points and Kevin Love came off the bench for a 21-point, 10-assist performance, finishing two rebounds shy of a triple-double.
“That’s one of the things we have been talking about is no matter who is on the floor, we need to live up to our standards,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “I thought our guys took that to heart.”
Cleveland has not lost since the Oct. 19 season opener at Toronto. The Cavs continued a trend by holding Detroit to 37.3 percent shooting from the field, lowering their opponents’ season mark to 44.2 percent.
The Cavaliers are limiting opponents to 104.4 points per game thanks in part to the rim protection of Allen and Evan Mobley, who are averaging 1.3 and 1.9 blocks per game, respectively, and Garland’s 2.5 steals per game.
Mobley — a southern California native who played his college ball at USC, just a few miles away from Crypto.com Arena — returns to Los Angeles fresh off an 11-point, eight-rebound, eight-block effort.
Mobley will again look to help set the defensive tone in Cleveland’s back-to-back set in L.A., with Sunday’s game against the Lakers followed by a Monday night matchup with the Clippers.
The Lakers come into Sunday’s matinee after seeing their brief winning streak snapped with a 130-116 loss Friday to Utah.
Los Angeles opened the season with five straight losses before scratching out consecutive victories against New Orleans and Denver. Friday’s defeat marked a significant backslide, as the Lakers gave up a season-high point total.
“It was the first game I felt like we weren’t there…
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Source : yahoo