Cavs offense too much for Lakers despite career night from Reaves

Cavs offense too much for Lakers despite career night from Austin Reaves https://t.co/cSW8f1KBEb

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) January 1, 2025

Cleveland’s league-best offense was too much for the Lakers on New Year’s Eve despite Austin Reaves tying his career high in points.

The Cavs knocked down 3-pointers early and often against the Lakers on Tuesday, adding to their league-best record with a 122-110 win on New Year’s Eve.

Cleveland won the math game in a big way on the night, connecting on 18 3-pointers compared to just nine for the Lakers.

Austin Reaves had a big night, matching his career high with 35 points along with 10 assists and nine rebounds. Anthony Davis had a double-double of 28 points and 13 rebounds. LeBron James struggled early but finished with 23 points on 9-17 shooting.

Both Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton made their debuts. DFS had two points on 1-4 shooting while Milton had a pair of 3-pointers for six points.

Rui Hachimura also struggled, finishing with seven points. Max Christie had five points and Dalton Knecht had six points.

LeBron, fresh off his 40th birthday, knocked down a pair of early 3-pointers to try to keep the Lakers attached. However, much like the last meeting between the two sides, Cleveland raced to an early lead.

Sloppiness crept into the game for the purple and gold in the form of turnovers, missed layups and allowing Cavs offensive rebounds as the visitors opened up a 20-12 lead near the midway point of the frame. The problems snowballed and the lead grew to as large as 29-14.

The Lakers finally responded with a 6-0 run to pull back within single digits. Reaves was at the middle of lots of action, for better and for worse, in the opening frame and his spinning layup cut the deficit to seven.

Milton knocked down a 3-pointer in his first possession as a Laker, extending it to a 14-2 run. After trailing by 14 early in the period, the hosts went into the second quarter down just 34-30.