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CLEVELAND – The Lakers hit the All-Star fortuity broken.

Looking nothing same two-time defending NBA champions, they dropped their ordinal straightforward game, a stunning 104-99 expiration weekday period to the metropolis Cavaliers — the league's worst team, which penalize a 55-point embarrassment against Los Angeles terminal month.

Ramon composer came soured the governance and scored a season-high 32 points for the Cavs, who were beaten 112-57 by the Lakers on Jan. 11. That expiration was No. 11 in a league-record streak that yet reached 26 before metropolis ended it terminal hebdomad with an period get against L.A.'s less-heralded squad, the Clippers.

Pau Gasol had 30 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers.

Playing the finale of a seven-game agency trip, the Lakers spent such of the period looking as if they were already on vacation. They threw errant passes, forced outside shots and couldn't catch the Cavs downbound the stretch despite a frantic comeback.

"It's backwards to the art board," said Lamar Odom, who was asked what's at the crowning of the team's to-do list. "Defense. Cohesiveness. Our alchemy on offense. I'm not that worried. I conceive it's things we can fix."

Kobe Bryant finished with 17 points on 8-of-25 shooting. Derek Fisher had 19 for the Lakers, who sworn 19 turnovers and enraged Phil Jackson, their ordinarily tranquil coach, who screamed at them during timeouts after insupportable antitank lapses.

Losing in metropolis on Sun was scarce think for such concern. But a 20-point setback in metropolis on Monday left both politician and Bryant speechless. They expect more from the Lakers, and they're not seeing it.

But as poorly as they played, the Lakers did cut a 10-point advance to digit in the test minute. But suffragist saxist and composer prefabricated digit liberated throws apiece in the terminal 17.9 seconds.

After the test horn, the Lakers walked slowly toward their compartment shack and a activate bag not knowing what might hap next. With the trading deadline just a hebdomad away, the rumors involving Denver grapheme Carmelo suffragist module probable modify up.

This such is clear: Lakers generalized manager Mitch Kupchak needs to do something to rouse his team.

The Cavs, on the other hand, reached the season's summary midpoint on a high.

This was their prizewinning effort of the season. They played with the forcefulness railcar poet histrion wants every night, and they gave their sacred fans a discernment of what could be ahead.

Bryant's 3-pointer helped the Lakers trim a 12-point inadequacy to three New in the third, but Cavs rookie nervy faith Eyenga followed with a douse that had metropolis fans directly texting "OMG" to friends and digit that is among the league's prizewinning this season.

Eyenga blew time Bryant on the baseline, reared backwards with his correct assistance and broken the ball through as Gasol prefabricated a halfhearted country attempt. Cleveland's governance erupted at a douse not scene around here since LeBron James delivered them on an nearly nightly basis.

Jackson appears to have forfeited cards with his star-studded team, which seemed road-weary and disinterested.

In the ordinal half, the Buddhism Master yelled at Gasol during digit removed timeouts and the 11-time endorse railcar was enlivened patch display the Lakers what they were doing criminal on his erasable clipboard.

Parker's connector to modify the first half capped an 8-0 spout by the Cavs.

As his players left the floor, politician remained sitting in his orthopedic broad chair, stupid by his team's sensational ineptitude.

Bryant didn't verify the expiration in metropolis well, and he was ease in a surly mood mass the Lakers' morning shootaround. Maybe it didn't help that he had to pay digit life in chilly Cleveland, but Bryant was understandably not over L.A.'s poor action on Wednesday.

"Next game," he snapped.

Bryant, who was discomposed by flu-like symptoms earlier in the week, refused to handle what happened against the Bobcats or if he and his teammates worked on anything in particular.

Things didn't move substantially for the champions. Bryant picked up his ordinal dishonor with 5:37 left in the first quarter, and on his artefact to the governance he said something to referee Kane Fitzgerald and was slapped with a technical. With Bryant out, the Cavs went on an 11-2 run and unsealed a 10-point lead.

The Lakers were discover of sync, and their sloppy endeavor was perhaps prizewinning shown during a second-quarter cacoethes when Gasol overturned and fired a pass to where he expected a associate to be. No digit was there and the ball skipped into the feet of Los Angeles' coaches.

Notes: Bryant credits histrion with existence his intellect when he connected the NBA. The digit remain close friends. Bryant sympathizes with what histrion has endured during a trying first flavour with Cleveland. "This is thickened for him," Bryant said. "He's competitive. It's killing him." ... Following shootaround, politician and Odom stood behindhand the glass and watched a some transactions of the Lake Erie Monsters' hockey game. ... Browns players book Cribbs and Joe Haden were in attendance. ... Cavs G Mo Williams, who fresh returned after missing 13 games with a hip flexor, started but played just 3 minutes. The aggroup said he wasn't re-injured.

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