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Lakers stumble in Cleveland

Feb 17, 2011 - 5:05 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - What a difference five weeks makes.

Ramon Sessions scored 32 points with eight assists and Cleveland earned a surprising 104-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Quicken Loans Arena.

Antawn Jamison added 19 points and 10 assists while J.J. Hickson provided 13 points and 15 boards as the Cavaliers reversed a historic 55-point defeat to the Lakers on January 11 to win for the second time in three games on the heels of their 26-game losing streak. Cleveland heads into the All-Star break at 10-46.

"I always want to beat them," said Cleveland head coach and former Lakers guard Byron Scott. "I love that organization and I probably still bleed a little purple and gold. But, when you are going against them as an opponent, you want to win."

Pau Gasol had a gigantic night with 30 points and 20 boards while Kobe Bryant struggled, shooting just 8-of-24 in a 17-point, 12-rebound effort for the Lakers, who lost the last three of their seven-game road trip to limp into the All-Star break at 38-19 to top the Pacific Division.

"We have to go back and get some work done," Los Angeles head coach Phil Jackson said. "I'm not happy with the way this trip ended, for sure."

Sessions' technical foul shot and short jumper gave the Cavs a 68-56 edge with 5:41 to go in the third quarter. Bryant's three-pointer finished a 15-4 burst that moved the Lakers within 72-71 with 45 ticks to go in the period.

Christian Eyenga's flying one-hand jam over Gasol gave the hosts a three-point lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

Derek Fisher tied the game at 82 on a three-pointer, but the Cavs followed with a 14-2 surge and took a 96-84 lead on Hickson's dunk and foul shot to complete three-point play with 2:20 remaining.

Two Shannon Brown layups finished a 9-0 burst that sliced the lead to 96-93 with 43.5 ticks to go.

After Sessions hit 3-of-4 at the line sandwiched around Bryant's layup, Gasol's bucket made it a 99-97 game with 24.9 ticks left.

Anthony Parker hit a pair at the line to push Cleveland's margin to four with 17.9 ticks to go before Odom's running bank shot with 12.1 seconds left cut the lead in half.

Sessions canned two more at the line, where he finished 13-of-14, with 11.4 ticks left and after Bryant missed a three-point try, Jamario Moon made 1-of-2 to make it a two-possession game with 5.7 seconds remaining.

Fisher missed a three-pointer at the other end, and the Cavs held on for the win.

The Cavs forged a 29-21 lead behind 11 points from Session after the first quarter, despite 14 points from Gasol.

Cleveland led by as many as nine early in the second quarter before the Lakers eventually came back to take a 42-41 lead on a Fisher jumper with 2:41 to play before the intermission.

The Cavs then closed the half on a 10-4 burst, highlighted by a Hickson dunk and Parker triple, to grab a 51-46 lead at the break.

Game Notes

Cleveland has won eight of the last 11 meetings...Parker finished with 18 points and nine assists for the Cavs, who shot 47 percent from the floor after shooting a dismal 30 percent in their loss to LA last month...Fisher made 8- of-12 shots, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, to end with 19 points in the loss...Brown finished with 15 points off the bench for the Lakers, who have dropped seven of their last nine in Cleveland...The 57 points scored by the Cavs in the last meeting were the fewest yielded in a game by the Lakers in the shot-clock era.