Third quarter struggles continue; Lakers fall to Cavs 129-99
The Lakers came out of the halftime break flat and fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-99 on the road. Los Angeles was coming off a win in Chicago. Luka Doncic led the way for Los Angeles and finished with 29 points, even after leaving the game briefly due to an ankle injury.
The Lakers got throttled in the 2nd half 😒 pic.twitter.com/RPJRqQUkPf
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) January 29, 2026
key takeaways
The Lakers were in the game up until the third quarter began. There seemed to be no effort aside from Doncic and Gabe Vincent, who led the team in bench scoring with 11 points. LeBron James was a non-factor for much of the game, as he finished with 11 points as well.
Rui Hachimura, who has been a huge factor off the bench, finished scoreless tonight.
Los Angeles continues to be a team that struggles in the third quarter, and that is not something new. This trend has been going on since Darvin Ham was at the helm.
austin reaves
The Lakers have been without their second-leading scorer for 17 games now. According to the team, Reaves has been cleared for full-contact work at practice and is expected to join the team at some point during the current road trip.
Reaves has been a huge part of the team’s success, and when he does return, he will take the load off of Doncic’s shoulders.
When Reaves and Doncic were on the floor together, they were the highest-scoring backcourt in the league. Reaves was having an All-Star year and was even getting some MVP looks.
Next matchup
The Lakers will now be heading to Washington to take on the Wizards. These matchups on paper seem to favor Los Angeles, but if the effort level is anything similar to what happened tonight, it could be a long night for the Lakers.
