Los Angeles Lakers: One Crazy Night In Cleveland
By Jason Gold
Feb 5, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (right) battles for the ball with Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Blake in the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
On Wednesday Night in Cleveland the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Cleveland Cavaliers by the score of 119-108.
If that’s the headline you saw from that game then you missed the craziest NBA game of the 2013-14 season and perhaps one of the most mind boggling in the history of professional basketball.
The Lakers entered Wednesday nights game against the Cavs with eight healthy players. While that’s not ideal, it is manageable. However, during the course of the game the Lakers lost Nick Young (knee injury), Jordan Farmar (cramps) and Chris Kaman (fouled out). Meanwhile, while the Laker players were dropping like flies, the Lakers pounced on the Cavaliers to the tune of a 50-21 lead at one point in the first half.
Things started to get really weird in the fourth quarter as the Cavs tried to mount a ferocious comeback. First, Mike Brown, the former Lakers head coach and now the Cavs head coach, benched Kyrie Irving for the remainder of the fourth quarter for some undetermined reason. Perhaps it was because Irving looked a whining baby on the bench. Who knows?
Anyways, when Kaman fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter the Lakers were left with five completely healthy players on the court. Let’s set the scene:
#Lakers have 6 guys, and Robert Sacre w 5 fouls. But Steve Nash and Jordan Hill active, just not playing. 4:03 left, LA leads #Cavs 109-99.
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) February 6, 2014
The Lakers are up by 10 with four minutes left to play and only have five available bodies. One of those bodies has five fouls. What could possibly go wrong?
ROBERT SACRE FOULED OUT.
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) February 6, 2014
THERE IT IS! Sacre fouls out of the game, and we don't have enough players. Farmar actually trying to come back in, hurt and all
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) February 6, 2014
THIS IS THE MOST LAKER THING TO EVER HAPPEN
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) February 6, 2014
Robert Sacre just fouled out. #Lakers down to 5. I've been covering #NBA since we used chisel and granite, and this is weirdest game yet.
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) February 6, 2014
Robert Sacre has fouled out, leaving the Lakers with 4 healthy players. The coaches are trying to figure out what to do.
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 6, 2014
Chaos in Cleveland
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) February 6, 2014
Even Pau Gasol didn’t know what was going on.
I've never seen this situation before!! Did anybody know about this rule!? #LakersvsCavs
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) February 6, 2014
Then it happened. BOB SACRE WAS ALLOWED TO STAY IN THE GAME WITH SIX FOULS!
SACRE WILL STAY IN THE GAME AFTER FOULING OUT BECAUSE THE LAKERS DON’T HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS.
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) February 6, 2014
NBA rule 3I states no team may be reduced to less than five players. Last guy to foul out stays in, gets tech + more techs for each foul
— Aaron Bruski (@aaronbruski) February 6, 2014
Sacre is allowed to stay in the game with 6 fouls. A technical foul is tacked on. Every foul he gets subsequently will include a T
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 6, 2014
ROBERT SACRE - THE UN-EJECTABLE.
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) February 6, 2014
Then it happened. The best tweet of all-time.
IF THE LAKERS WIN THIS GAME THE CAVS NEED TO BE CONTRACTED.
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) February 6, 2014
After all of that Steve Blake hit a couple of key three pointers down the stretch and the Lakers held on to defeat the Cavs in the strangest contest I have ever witnessed.
A couple of other notes from tonight:
– Ryan Kelly set a career high with 26 points and has established himself as the best 2nd round pick of the 2013 NBA Draft.
– Steve Blake had a tripe-double with 11 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.
– The Lakers set a franchise record by hitting 18 three-pointers.
This was an epically bad contest between two teams that were seemingly trying to out tank each other. Despite the fact that the Lakers are one of the worst teams in the NBA, they always play hard and make for a great story. If this were any team other than the Lakers I don’t know who would have really cared. However, the Lakers are still relevant, if only for one crazy night in Cleveland.