Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick bemoaned their missed chances as they fell to defeat at the high-flying Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland won their eighth straight game with a 122-110 victory over the Lakers in a match where LeBron James made history, becoming the first NBA player to appear in a game in his teens and 40s.
Austin Reaves had a season-high 35 points with 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Lakers, while Anthony Davis added 28 points and 13 rebounds, but despite a late push to get back into the game, they could not finish 2024 on a high.
Like in their meeting in October, Los Angeles struggled to limit Cleveland's 3-pointers, while the visitors managed to have five players with at least 15 points, with Jarrett Allen (27) leading the way.
"We certainly had our chances," Reddick said. "And I really believe this against teams as good as Cleveland: You have to play close to perfect basketball.
"They're not gonna let you beat them. They're not gonna beat themselves.
"They have some really good shot makers on their team. You think about some of those threes they made and some of the threes we missed…that level of disparity from the three-point line is really the difference in the game."
Final pic.twitter.com/TLinALYOjR
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 1, 2025
Reaves made a slow start but kept the Lakers in the game as he tied his career-high for points and finished just one point shy of a triple-double.
"What'd he have? 36 tonight? 35? … looked good to me," Davis said of Reaves. "He's a hooper.
"I mean, obviously, he has a little bit more on his plate with ballhandling responsibilities when Gabe [Vincent] is out and when LeBron is out of the game, but he's used to it. He's been in the league long enough now where he knows how to run the point guard position.
"So, it's going to be more reps. He's ready for it, and we got the utmost confidence in him to run the point."
