On March 22, Beijing time, the 2021-22 NBA regular season continued. In today's focus battle, the Lakers traveled to the road to challenge the Cavaliers, and this game has a special meaning for James, who has played for the Cavaliers for 11 seasons, and today is his homecoming battle.
Before the game began, James received a warm welcome from cavaliers home fans. He threw magnesium powder before the game, evoking the memories of many Cavaliers fans. In front of his old teammates, James also hugged and greeted Love and others.
The Cavaliers also played a tribute video for James at home, who surpassed Malone in total scoring in the previous game to move up to No. 2 all-time. For the warm welcome of the Cavaliers fans, James raised his hand in response to the local fans and gave him a flying kiss.
After the game began, James was cheered by the fans every time he touched the ball. He quickly hit his first shot of the day near the free throw line, and in the middle of the quarter, James received a pass from Reeves and cut from the bottom corner to the dunk under the basket! In the first quarter, James had 4 points and 3 assists on 2-of-6 shooting, and the Lakers trailed the Cavaliers 28-35.
After entering the second quarter of the game, James exploded in full force, and he attacked the basket several times. One of the balls, he received a pass from Westbrook, and James rushed to the basket to hit. In another round, James hit a strong layup and caused Love's foul to be 2+1!
Before the end of the quarter, James contributed the best dunk of the day! Westbrook's free throw was deflected, Rivers grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to James, he rushed from the outside to the basket, and completed a one-arm dunk across Love, the atmosphere of the scene also fell into a climax, and the Lakers bench was also in a frenzied celebration.
James was also raised in the face by Mobley in a defensive round during this quarter. James tried to cut the ball and Mobley accidentally kicked James when he got up. After a brief fall to the ground, James quickly got up.
James had 17 points and three rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting in the second quarter, and with his excellent play, the Lakers completed the rebound in the second quarter to end the first half with a 67-62 lead over the Cavaliers. In the first half of the game alone, James had 21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
James' hand slipped as he began in the third quarter, but he provided consecutive assists for his teammates to help the team secure the lead. Three minutes before the end of the quarter, the Cavaliers were close to the point difference, and James scored two consecutive hits to the basket. In this quarter, James had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. However, after James went off, the Cavaliers played a counterattack, and the Lakers trailed the Cavaliers 96:97 to end the first three quarters.
In the final quarter of the showdown, James first assisted Johnson to win, then hit a layup and played 2+1, and then he assisted Munch again, and the Lakers quickly completed the rebound. After grabbing his 10th rebound today, James has reached 30+10+10! 3 minutes before the final game, James first turned over a jump shot, and then received a Reeves pass to dunk, this is not over, James then hit a difficult two-point long, the Lakers 1 minute and 47 seconds before the end of the game to lead to 12 points, steady on the road to a win.
In the end, the Lakers beat the Cavaliers on the road, ending four consecutive road trips with 2 wins and 2 losses, and the record became 31 wins and 41 losses. James played 41 minutes today, shooting 117-of-29, including 0-of-4 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, for a combined 38 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
It is worth mentioning that in today's game, James has had his 6th triple-double this season, ranking 6th in the league, while this is the 105th triple-double of James's career, ranking 5th in history, while only two times behind Kidd. According to statistics, James has cut 30+ triple-doubles 6 times after the age of 35, ranking first in NBA history!
After today's game, the Lakers will return home, where they will host the 76ers on March 24, and they will go all out to win to cement their rankings.