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Cavs try to start new streak vs. Lakers

Feb 8, 2015 - 2:54 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Cavaliers try to start a new winning streak when they entertain the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday afternoon.

The Cavaliers had a 12-game winning streak come to an end with Friday's 103-99 road setback to the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers held the Cavaliers to 15 points in the third quarter and scored 36 in the fourth. George Hill's go-ahead four- point play with 1:26 remaining was the final dagger.

Hill scored 16 points during the decisive frame.

Kyrie Irving had 29 points, LeBron James scored 25 and J.R. Smith ended with 17 for Cleveland, which made 44.9 percent from the field and suffered its first loss since Jan. 13 at Phoenix.

"Late in the game we didn't execute like I believe we're capable of doing. We gave up too many points," James said.

James is averaging 28.1 points in his last 13 games.

Cleveland will try to push its home winning streak to nine games and is scheduled to host the Miami Heat on Wednesday. The Cavs won 11 in a row at Quicken Loans Arena from Feb. 23-April 6, 2010 and are outscoring the opposition by 14.6 ppg during the current home streak.

The Cavaliers, who have a 15-0 mark when scoring 100 or more points at home and are 19-9 at the Q, are unbeaten in their last eight games against teams from the Western Conference.

Los Angeles will put the finishing touches on what has been a putrid four-game road trip (0-3), and sustained a 103-97 overtime loss in Orlando on Friday.

Ryan Kelly scored 20 points, while Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson all netted 14 points in the second straight overtime game for the Lakers, who made 40.2 percent for the game and managed 27 points on 19 Orlando turnovers. Los Angeles has reached OT in three of the past four games.

The Magic scored 12 of the 18 points in overtime.

LA has lost 12 of its last 13 games and is winless in the past nine on the road. It fell to 6-20 as the guest and 2-7 on the road against Eastern Conference opponents.

"If you go in there, you'll see the guys are not in there having a party right now because we lost the game because they think it's going to help us get a better draft pick," said Lakers coach Byron Scott.

The Lakers will host Denver next on Tuesday at Staples Center. They were beaten by Cleveland at home on Jan. 15 in a 109-102 decision, as James led the way with 36 points and Kobe Bryant finished with 19 and 17 assists. Bryant, of course, is out for the season with a shoulder injury.

LA and Cleveland have alternated results in each of the past nine games in this series. The Lakers are only 2-7 in the last nine trips to Cleveland.