Cavaliers Avoid Flying Foam in Easy Win

LOS ANGELES -- It's a good thing it wasn't Barbell Day. Or Bookend Day.

Lakers fans at the Staples Center on Friday were given foam fingers, although they were more like foam hands, with "L.A.'' and No. 24 on them to represent star Kobe Bryant. Late in the 102-87 Christmas loss to Cleveland, the fans were treating those gifts with the same sentiment as a lump of coal in a stocking.

Frustrated with the officiating and their team's lifeless performance, the fans hurled the objects on the floor. It was a classless display but it at least dispelled the reputation that all Los Angeles fans do is arrive late, leave early and order sushi from courtside vendors.

"Obviously, you don't want to see that happen,'' Bryant said. "If you're going to throw something, at least throw something that's not going to hurt. So I guess [foam] was the best situation.''

Actually, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said he saw several water bottles whiz by, calling it a "scary thing.''

But it's a good thing Lakers fans had an aim similar to that of Bryant, who shot 11-of-32 en route to one of the most misleading 35-point games ever.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson wasn't too happy seeing what the fans did. But leave it Jackson to manage to get in a dig at the same time at the officials.

"I've never seen an L.A. crowd react like this before,'' said Jackson, perhaps stunned fans were still around with the Cavaliers up by 20 with 4:04 left, when the projectiles first began to fly. "I like their enthusiasm. I didn't like the demonstrative act. But it wasn't a well-refereed game. It wasn't a well-played game. And so, as a response, the crowd was unhappy about it.''

But don't blame this loss by the Lakers, who had five technicals, on the officials. Bryant, who banged into Cleveland center Shaquille O'Neal on several occasions with nothing being called, didn't.

Blame it on the Cavaliers perhaps finally living up to preseason expectations and on boredom by the Lakers. On Christmas Eve, they were talking about this game with the same enthusiasm as they might have if the Toronto Raptors were stopping by.

The Lakers talked about how the game wasn't as big as the one last Christmas against Boston. They mentioned how they had no rivalry with the Cavaliers.

Well, Cleveland (23-8) might have started one with the Lakers (23-5).

"I think this game was a measuring stick for us,'' said Cavaliers star LeBron James, who scored 26 points. "This is how we should play no matter if we were playing the Lakers or a team that doesn't have a great record.''

The Cavaliers played likely their best defensive game of the season, holding the Lakers to 36.5 percent shooting. They had seven steals and seven blocks, including a team-high two by guard Anthony Parker, one a nifty swat from behind on Bryant.

Parker was one of a swarm of bodies sent at Bryant. Others included Jamario Moon, Delonte West and James.

"We tried to build a wall around him,'' said James, who knows a bit about walls from visits to the one in China and knowing the Great Wall of Cleveland, also known as Shaq, was there to stop many a drive by Bryant.

The Cavaliers were much more physical than the Lakers. Bodies often crashed like bumper cars in the lane, and Cleveland didn't matter in the least when no whistle was blown.

"It was the best defensive game in that area, yes,'' Brown said of coming up big on the road against the NBA's best team. "I do like the way we were a physical team.''

Playing so well on defense, the Cavaliers did enough on offense to make the game a rout. Guard Mo Williams went 3-of-3 from three-point range for a team-high 28 points while James was quite content to give up the ball to the tune of nine assists.

"We'll look back on this game and learn from it,'' Bryant said. "I think it was just a wake-up call for us. We just have to play harder.''

Bryant denied the Lakers took the Cavaliers lightly. But he did acknowledge it was his team's first game this season against a "typical power East Coast team.''

"I think this game was a measuring stick for us. This is how we should play no matter if we were playing the Lakers or a team that doesn't have a great record."
-- LeBron James Have you taken a look at the Lakers' schedule to start the season? It looks like something John Thompson used to put together with Georgetown in November and December (remember St. Leo?).

The Lakers played 17 of their first 21 games at home. Then, when they headed on the road last week for their first so-called test, foes in the five-game voyage included Chicago, Milwaukee. New Jersey and Detroit.

Yes, life had gotten pretty cushy for the guys in purple.

"We didn't play a lot of good teams consistently,'' admitted Lakers forward Ron Artest about the schedule.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers already have played Boston and Orlando. And before the game Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was talking about the East is now tougher than the West.

He's right.

"This was a big test for us because the Lakers have the best team in the league and they have won it before,'' said O'Neal, who had a workmanlike 11 points and seven assists in returning to the Staples Center in a third different jersey since leaving the Lakers in 2004. "If we buckle up and play the way that we're supposed to play, we can play with anybody... We accepted the challenge and we got a good win.''

The Cavaliers led by as many as 20 points in the first half before the Lakers cut the deficit to 51-42 at halftime and closed to within six early in the third quarter. But it was all Cavaliers the rest of the way.

With 4:04 remaining and Cleveland up 93-73, a double technical was called on Williams and Lakers forward Lamar Odom, the second one by Odom resulting in his ejection. The fans then began throwing the foam items on the court, with the Lakers eventually getting a technical for a delay of game for understandably taking their time in not substituting for Odom in a timely fashion.



With 3:45 left, Bryant got a technical. More Christmas day gifts were then returned, as in being hurled onto the floor.

"The thing that was shocking was I saw two water bottles thrown onto the court,'' Brown said. "You hope that doesn't happen. You start worrying about the concerns for the guy on the floor, even the guys on the bench.''

One broadcaster sitting courtside saw a penny whiz by onto the court. It's surprising any of the high-brow fans at the Staples Center within throwing distance even carry such small change.

"The only thing that you hope doesn't happen is one of the players gets hit or a referee gets hit,'' James said. "You don't want that. Especially a full water bottle ... When that came on the court, it was coming pretty fast.'''

Let's just say Jackson, despite not endorsing the objects being flung, did not single out any concern for the referees.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson