How the Cavaliers spoiled LeBron James' return to Cleveland

It was another edition of LeBron James returning back to Northeast Ohio in an opposing team's uniform. This time, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers getting the best of the Los Angeles Lakers, 129-99 in what could have been LeBron's final game in this arena.

The win makes it a five-game winning streak as the Cavaliers improve to 29-20 on the season building off of back-to-back matchups with the Orlando Magic.

Donovan Mitchell led the way with 25 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Jaylon Tyson followed up with 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists. While De'Andre Hunter finished with 19 points and three rebounds off the bench.

For the Lakers, James stacked up just 11 points, five assists, and three rebounds. Luka Doncic did lead them with 29 points, six assists, and five rebounds.

Cleveland would start off with a quick 7-0 run to start the game, but Los Angeles responded with a 12-0 run of their own to take a 12-7 lead within the opening five minutes. It turned into a back and forth game to finish the quarter as both teams were very even in terms of shooting. But it was the road team still holding onto a narrow 28-24 lead thanks to owning an 18-8 advantage in the paint to start.

An 11-2 run led by Doncic would help keep the hot start going for Los Angeles as they raced out to an explosive 35-26 lead. But leave it up to the Cavs to respond right back with a 10-5 run of their own cutting it back down to a four point deficit. With 6:42 left in the half, it was a 40-36 game.

How the Cavs pulled away

Give Cleveland credit though as they would turn up the heat and end the quarter with a 21-15 advantage to take a 57-55 lead into halftime. With Tyson, Allen, and Mitchell all scoring at least 11 points in the half, it was a nice collective effort to retake the lead.

The NBA leader in second half points came out of halftime scorching hot leading the Cavs to a 19-10 explosion just over four minutes which featured four three pointers. To put that into perspective, they made just six threes total in the first half. With 7:34 left in the third, the home team built it up to a 76-65 lead.

It ended up being a quarter to forget for the Lakers as they as they were outscored 42-22 across those twelve minutes. At the end of the third, it was a whopping 99-77 lead for the Cavaliers who had seven total threes in just that quarter alone.

A 20-5 run from the ending of the third quarter through the opening of the fourth finally put Los Angeles to rest. It was arguably their own fault though committing 16 turnovers, as well as being dominated on the boards and in the paint. Down 111-80 with 7:49 left to play, they even emptied out the bench which included Bronny James himself to finish off the game.

Cleveland finished it off cruising to a 127-97 victory in the end thanks to a huge 72-44 dominant second half overall. But that would not be until Bronny stole the show in the fourth finishing with eight points, two rebounds, and one assist, going 3-for-3 from the field including 2-for-2 from deep.

The Cavs next start a west coast road trip in Phoenix on Friday night.