Sasha Pavlovic, who scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland clamped down on Kobe Bryant when it mattered most in a 99-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Lebron James had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, but he bowed to Pavlovic and others down the stretch, and Cleveland’s supporting cast came through.
James was outscored 25-7 by Bryant after halftime, but the All-Star forward was rewarded for sharing the ball and still got to crown the Cavaliers’ win with a soaring dunk in the final seconds.
Bryant scored 36 points to lead the Lakers, who went 3-5 on an eight-game swing through the bitterly cold East. Bryant scored Los Angeles’ first 14 points in the final period, but with Larry Hughes guarding him and the Cavs running others at him whenever he touched the ball, he didn’t score in the closing 3:39.
The Lakers led by three points entering the fourth but were outscored 35-23 in the final 12 minutes as the Cavaliers, the NBA’s worst free-throw shooting team, got to the line and made 13-of-18 attempts.
With the Cavs paying extra attention to Bryant, none of the other Lakers stepped up and when Varejao scored with 47 seconds left the Cavaliers were up 93-87 and on their way to a second straight impressive victory.
Pavlovic, who had a career-high six assists against the Heat, has gotten more playing time of late and he’s making the most of it.
Pavlovic has averaged 15 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his last seven games.