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Kelly, Blake help Lakers clip Cavs, end skid

Feb 6, 2014 - 4:11 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Kelly amassed a career-high 26 points, Steve Blake recorded a triple-double and the Los Angeles Lakers put an end to a seven-game losing streak with a 119-108 victory over the also- slumping Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

Blake racked up 11 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in his second game back from an elbow injury, and he and Kelly were two of several Lakers to step up their production with the team fielding a shorthanded roster.

Jordan Farmar, playing for the first time since New Year's Eve, drained five 3-pointers in a 21-point, eight-assist effort, while Wesley Johnson contributed 20 points and nine rebounds for a Los Angeles squad that dressed just eight players with Pau Gasol (groin), Jodie Meeks (ankle) and Jordan Hill (cervical strain) out with injuries and point guard Steve Nash held out in the second test of a back-to-back.

The Lakers then lost forward Nick Young to a knee problem in the second quarter and had center Chris Kaman foul out with 8:29 left. Center Robert Sacre picked up his sixth foul with 3:32 remaining, but was permitted to stay in due to his team being out of bodies.

Los Angeles overcame the depletions by hitting 18 shots from 3-point range, its most ever in a non-overtime contest.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Kelly, who went 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. "I'm just glad we won."

The Cavaliers were handed a sixth straight defeat despite C.J. Miles' 27 points off the bench and a 15-point, 13-rebound output from Anderson Varejao.

The Lakers were also able to withstand their personnel losses by building a lead as high as 29 points in the first half while shooting a torrid 62.5 percent over the initial two quarters.

Johnson was especially on fire early on, burying a trio of 3-point shots in the first 4 1/2 minutes of play to lead the Lakers on a game-opening 16-8 run. He added six more points during a 17-4 tear that Los Angeles closed out the quarter on, with the sequence staking the Lakers to a commanding 36-17 lead at period's end.

"I think the game got away from us in the first quarter," Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown remarked. "We came out, couldn't make a shot nor could we get a stop. It made it a tough, uphill climb the rest of the game."

Los Angeles, which made good on 71.4 percent (15-of-21) of its field goal tries in the first quarter, continued to score at will in the second. Farmar was the catalyst this time, racking up 13 points on a 5-of-7 success rate for the frame to help the Lakers cruise into the break up by a startling 70-49 count.

The Lakers increased the margin to 28 points after a Kendall Marshall trey with 3:13 left in the third quarter made the score 96-68, though the Cavaliers ended the stanza on a 12-2 sequence to pull within 98-80 entering the fourth.

Cleveland continued to close the gap, with Miles sinking a pair of triples during a 10-2 surge that cut the deficit to 100-90 with 9 1/2 minutes to go. Another Miles three ignited a 5-0 stretch that whittled the lead down to 114-108 heading into the final minute.

Blake halted the momentum with a clutch 3-pointer with 56.9 seconds showing, however, and the Cavaliers failed to score the rest of the way.

"He makes a big difference because he plays hard," Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni said of Blake. "Plays with grit, determination. He doesn't back down."

Game Notes

With Sacre allowed in the game with six fouls, the Lakers would have been charged a technical for any additional fouls he committed ... Blake notched the second career triple-double, with the first taking place against the Clippers on Apr. 14, 2010, and the first by a Laker against Cleveland since Kobe Bryant in 2003 ... Farmar had missed Los Angeles' last 16 outings with a torn hamstring ... The Cavs have allowed an average of 110.8 points during their losing streak ... Los Angeles halted a three-game road skid in the series and had lost in seven of its last eight visits to Cleveland coming in.