A fast start, then a very Lakers response

One night after beating the Washington Wizards 120-101, the Los Angeles Lakers were handed a far more serious test in the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that still looks very much like a potential NBA Finals threat. Luka Dončić was back after serving his automatic one-game suspension for picking up his 16th technical foul of the season, while veteran guard Marcus Smart missed his fifth straight game because of an ankle injury.

Cleveland opened by scoring the first six points and led 26-19 with 3:10 left in the first quarter, which briefly made this feel like one of those games the Lakers would spend the rest of the night trying to recover from. Then they did the opposite.

Los Angeles won the second quarter 33-19 to take a 65-53 lead into halftime, then poured in 45 points in the third quarter to take complete control. The Cavaliers pulled within 14 midway through the fourth, but that was about as dramatic as the comeback got.

The Lakers finished with a 127-113 win, which was either a surprise or merely the latest example of a team that has finally decided inconsistency was becoming annoying. They shot 54.2% from the field and 41.9% from 3-point range, outscored Cleveland at the free throw line by 10 makes, and kept the turnover count to 12 while piling up 26 assists.

The result pushed them to 50-26 and moved them another step toward securing third place in the Western Conference. They now sit two games ahead of the fourth-place Denver Nuggets. After finishing March with a 15-2 record, they are starting to look less like a team on a good run and more like one that expects to keep it going.

Player grades

Jake LaRavia: A

LaRavia finally snapped out of a long offensive slump, at least for one night. He hit all five of his field-goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and one steal in 38 minutes.

It was his highest-scoring game since Feb. 28, his first since then with at least two made triples, and the only March game in which he reached double figures.

Deandre Ayton: A-minus

The Lakers needed Ayton to stand tall against Cleveland’s front line of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, and he did exactly that.

He stayed active offensively, made 8 of 13 shots and scored 18 points. He also added nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 28 minutes. Allen also scored 18 points but managed only four rebounds, while Mobley finished with six points on four field-goal attempts in 22 minutes.

Austin Reaves: B-minus

This was not Reaves’ cleanest offensive night. He went 2-for-8 in the first half and finished 6-for-16 from the field and 2-for-9 from 3-point range. In 37 minutes, he put up 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, one block and five turnovers.

Still, he helped make life miserable for Cleveland’s starting backcourt. Donovan Mitchell, who entered the game averaging 28 points per contest, was held to 10 points, while Harden finished with 17.

LeBron James: C-plus

James opened the game by blocking a Donovan Mitchell layup on the first possession, so at least he got the tone-setting part out of the way immediately. He did not have to do much heavy lifting after that, though he did dish out five first-half assists as the Lakers built their lead.

In 31 minutes, James had 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 5-of-6 at the line, along with five rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block. Considering the Lakers beat a strong Cavaliers team with James mostly in cruise control and Reaves not exactly lighting it up, that is a useful sign for Los Angeles.

Doncic, meanwhile, was the engine. He scored 20 first-half points to help create the Lakers’ cushion, then added 15 more in the third quarter. He reached 40 points for the third straight game and the 16th time this season, finishing with 42.

His final basket was a breakaway finish that ended with a surprisingly emphatic two-handed dunk, because apparently even the nightly scoring avalanche needs a little theater. Seven of his 16 40-point games this season have come in March, when he averaged 37.5 points per game while shooting 49.2% overall and 39.2% from deep.

Doncic finished 13-for-26 from the floor, 6-for-13 from 3-point range and a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line. He also had 12 assists, five rebounds and two steals, with zero turnovers. Not a bad way to run a basketball game.

Rui Hachimura: A-minus

Hachimura gave the Lakers strong scoring off the bench in fewer minutes than usual. He scored 14 points in 19 minutes, making 6 of 8 shots and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. Seven of those points came in the third quarter, when Los Angeles blew the game open.

Luke Kennard: C

Kennard was quiet in 23 minutes, taking only two shots and making one. He finished with two points, one rebound and two assists.

Jaxson Hayes: B-minus

Hayes played 19 minutes and contributed four points on 2-of-4 shooting, three rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Bronny James, Adou Thiero, Dalton Knecht, Drew Timme, Kobe Bufkin: Incomplete

Bronny James played seven minutes. Thiero, Knecht, Timme and Bufkin entered for the final 1:21. None of them recorded a statistic.