There’s always a certain buzz in downtown Cleveland when the Los Angeles Lakers come to town. It’s even more special for Cavs fans when it’s the Lakers and LeBron James comes back to play for his hometown team. With a ton of Laker fans sprinkled throughout the arena, the capacity crowd at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse was cheering loudly from tip off to the final buzzer. The big difference between Wednesday night and previous homecomings for LeBron was the newest addition to the Lakers roster. Bronny, the son of LeBron would also make his presence felt as he looked to play in his second game in the NBA. The anticipation and energy level in the arena was consistent all evening.
Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs certainly establish their dominance early in this game. Cleveland was red hot from the field lead by Mitchell who had 15 of his 24 points in the first quarter. It’s important to note that LeBron’s first points of the evening came on his patented electrifying tomahawk dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Shooting lights out in the first quarter the Cavs took a commanding 42-33 lead after one.
It wasn’t just an efficient shooting night, however. Cleveland’s defense made a huge impact as well. Cavs new head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the game, "Turning them over and getting some easy buckets really helped our fast start.”
While Donovan Mitchell was lighting up the score board shooting threes, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley’s presence in the post was the important key for this one. Anthony Davis was outnumbered as far as rebounds go when he was batting Allen and Mobley all night in the post as they had a combined 22 rebounds. Davis never looked comfortable all game.
As the Cavs continued to pull away from the Lakers it didn’t stop the fans from cheering for their hometown hero. LeBron finished with 26 points but the big moment didn't come until late in the game. The Cavs were up 20 in the fourth quarter with about eight minutes to go the crowd started chanting loudly “we want Bronny”.
Before Wednesday night Bronny’s only game time action came in the season opener for just 3 minutes and he did not score. So what better storyline opportunity than for Bronny James to enter the game to score his first points in the NBA at home in Cleveland? Lakers rookie head coach JJ Redick would finally give the fans what they wanted by subbing in Bronny with 5:25 to play in the game. The arena erupted with anticipation when he checked into the game. For four minutes the crowd buzzed every time he touched the ball. Bronny didn’t even take his first shot until ninety seconds remaining. That shot was heard around the Great Lakes too. Bronny hit a pull-up jumper and send the crowd home happy on top of a Cavs 24 point win. A double bonus for the 19 thousand fans in attendance. Bronny James finished with 2 points, 2 rebounds and one steal.
The final score was Cavs 134 Lakers 110. This marks only the fifth time in franchise history that the team has started 5-0. Cleveland currently holds the best record in the NBA. It was a memorable night for Cavs fans.