Successful Road Trip for the Lakers

The Lakers finished off their 6-0 trip with a 101-91 win against Cleveland (the Cavaliers’ first home loss), making their outing one of the best in team history. The Lakers ended the Cavaliers’ 23-game home winning streak without Kobe Bryant, who was suffering from flu-like symptoms throughout Sunday. Lamar Odom stepped up in his place, with 28 points and 17 rebounds at Quicken Loans Arena. The trip matched the most successful regular-season road trip in Lakers history.

Bryant missed a team meeting Sunday moning and was physically ill right before that Lakers hit the court for tipoff, again at halftime and again after scoring 19 points in 35 minutes. Kobe’s only points in the fourth quarter paved the way for the Lakers win and now L.A. tolds the tiebreaker against both the Celtics and the Cavaliers for home-court advantage in the NBA Finals (if the Lakers finish with identical regular-season records). Odom was the undeniable star of the game, with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the third quarter alone, causing Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson to gush: “That was one of the best games he’s played with us. He’s had some spectacular games, but that was a terrific game.”

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