LOS ANGELES — After the Cleveland Cavaliers made the defending NBA champions look ordinary, the Los Angeles Lakers’ fans threw up their foam hands in frustration.
Mo Williams scored 28 points, LeBron James added 26 and the Cavaliers beat Los Angeles 102-87 Friday in a game that ended with angry Lakers fans throwing dozens of giveaway foam hands onto the court.
Shaquille O’Neal had 11 points in his latest Los Angeles return with the Cavaliers, who dominated the Lakers with sharp shooting and physical defense, prompting several technical fouls and retaliation hits in a one-sided matchup of title contenders.
The Lakers’ crowd lost its holiday spirit with 4:04 left when Lamar Odom’s ejection and another technical foul on the Lakers’ infuriated bench prompted many fans to throw their pregame presents onto the court. After another foul with 3:45 left,several more foam hands were thrown along with a full water bottle, which skittered between players without hitting anyone.
Kobe Bryant scored 35 points for the Lakers, who had won 16 of 17 before Cleveland’s decisive victory behind Williams, James and the Cavs’ impressive interior play, which negated the Lakers’ usual advantages down low.
After Odom got his second technical foul in an altercation with Williams, the Lakers’ bench drew a technical foul - apparently on purpose - for delay of game by failing to produce a substitute in a timely manner. When referee Dan Crawford whistled that technical foul, the Staples Center crowd let its hands fly.
The foam hands weren’t the usual No. 1 finger normally found at sports events, but a representation of two puppet hands making the “LA” sign in a connection to Nike’s advertising campaign featuring puppets of James and Bryant.
But with Williams leading the way in his third consecutive strong road performance, the Cavs forced Bryant and the Lakers into their least impressive effort in six weeks. The loss dropped the Lakers (23-5) back into a tie with Boston atop the overall NBA standings.
Sports, Pages 21 on 12/26/2009