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Details
| date | time | venue | competition | season |
| January 15, 2015 | 10:30 PM ET | STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA | NBA | 2015 |
Cleveland Cavaliers
| # | player | position | total points | total minutes |
| 0 | Kevin Love | Power Forward | 17 | 37 |
| 23 | LeBron James | Small Forward | 36 | 38 |
| 20 | Timofey Mozgov | Center | 4 | 23 |
| 2 | Kyrie Irving | Point Guard | 22 | 37 |
| 5 | J.R. Smith | Shooting Guard | 14 | 37 |
| 33 | Brendan Haywood | Center | 5 | 32 |
| 8 | M. Dellavedova | Point Guard | 6 | 11 |
| 31 | Shawn Marion | Shooting Guard | 5 | 29 |
Los Angeles Lakers
| # | player | position | total points | total minutes |
| 33 | Wesley Johnson | Small Forward | 8 | 29 |
| 24 | Kobe Bryant | Small Forward | 19 | 32 |
| 27 | Jordan Hill | Center | 20 | 32 |
| 17 | Ed Davis | Center | 8 | 22 |
| 14 | Ronnie Price | Point Guard | 5 | 27 |
| 99 | Carlos Boozer | Power Forward | 9 | 23 |
| 4 | Ryan Kelly | Power Forward | 2 | 21 |
| 0 | Nick Young | Small Forward | 14 | 22 |
| 28 | Tarik Black | Center | 8 | 16 |
| 7 | Jeremy Lin | Point Guard | 9 | 15 |
Los Angeles
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James traded hugs, big shots and verbal jabs all night with warmth and humor. In the waning minutes, they went head to head in yet another entertaining duel between two of this generation’s greatest talents.
Although LeBron ended up topping his friendly rival again, King James relished what could be one of his final chances to share a court with one of his few true peers.
It’s always fun, a pleasure,” James said. “It’s two of the best competitors this game has probably ever seen, and to be on the same floor with him, somebody I looked up to when I was a child growing up, seeing him go straight from high school to the NBA, it’s fun, it’s great. I hated him being out of the NBA last year because of injury, and it’s fun having him back.
Cleveland had lost nine of 10 before James held off Bryant down the stretch in a scintillating exchange between the basketball icons.
Bryant hit a 3-pointer with 1:54 left and two free throws with 43 seconds to play, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 103-99. But James drove past Bryant for an acrobatic layup with 20.9 seconds left, and Bryant missed a jumper that essentially ended it
- Having a sense of awareness about the game.
- I believe a player with a strong mind has an advantage over any player, and if that player can put the rest together, they have the chance to become great.
- One quality that makes a basketball player great is passion because if you are passionate about the sport then you will go to any length to be successful.
Tip-ins
Cavaliers: James ripped off the protective sleeve on his elbow in frustration after missing his first three free throws, only to miss a fourth without the support. … Love’s back appeared to be bothering him throughout the game. A trainer attended to him during a second-quarter timeout. … Cleveland began the night under .500 for the first time since Nov. 24.
Lakers: Bryant set his previous career high in assists on Feb. 2, 2002, against Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards. … Nick Young scored 14 points, but his streak of consecutive free throws made ended at 31 in the fourth quarter. … NBA career assists leader John Stockton also played 19 seasons, getting a season high of 13 assists that year.