Lakers fall to Cavs in Finney-Smith and Milton debuts
Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at Crypto.com Arena. The last time these two teams matched up, we saw the Cavaliers dismantle the Purple and Gold.
Cleveland has been on a tear as of late, winning their last seven in a row. Unfortunately, they continued that streak tonight as they ultimately pulled away from the Lakers. They’ve now won both contests by double digits.
Finney-Smith and Milton Lakers Debuts
We saw the debuts of both Lakers newcomers tonight following the recent trade with the Brooklyn Nets. They both checked in fairly early in the first quarter and had fun plays early.
Shake Milton hit his first three-point shot taken as a Laker, and Finney-Smith was able to show off an impressive putback off of an Anthony Davis missed shot. They really didn’t have much impact past those moments, unfortunately.
Milton would go on to hit one more three and finish with six points, but Finney-Smith finished with just the two. This was partially to be expected as the two just got off the plane in Los Angeles a couple of nights ago. Now, to just integrate them further.
Austin Reaves
There was a clear-cut best player on the floor in this game; he happened to be on the losing team, however. Tonight, Austin Reaves proved again why he is the best contract in basketball. Austin finished the game with 35 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.
Austin Reaves last three games:
35 PTS | 9 REB | 10 AST
26 PTS | 6 REB | 16 AST
26 PTS | 10 REB | 10 AST pic.twitter.com/2pwrs2iAyV— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 1, 2025
In recent games, Reaves has been dominating. In two of these three performances, they’ve also been without one of their two superstars in Lebron and AD.
Reaves is showing that he can step up when called upon in multiple scenarios. These are fantastic signs to see after trading away our second most competent ball-handler in D’Angelo Russell.
Typical Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, as previously mentioned, have won their last eight games now. They are the number one seed in the East with a 5-game separation over the Boston Celtics. They are a very good team this season.
JJ Redick says you have to play “close to perfect basketball” if you expect to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 1, 2025
JJ Redick is right. To beat Cleveland this season you have to play perfect basketball, and the Lakers simply did not. Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley all scored north of 20 points, and it further emphasized a hole that Los Angeles still has.
If the Lakers are not able to trade for a legitimate backup, big, they will continue to struggle against the front court of the Cavs. Mobley and Allen are too much for Anthony Davis to handle alone. The team still has until Feb 6th to make a trade, and after this performance, I hope the team can realize that they must make a trade.
