Homecoming for Lakers star LeBron James and son Bronny turned into a party for the host Cleveland Cavaliers.
The younger James scored his first NBA basket for Los Angeles, but Evan Mobley tallied 25 points and Donovan Mitchell added 24 as the Cavaliers improved to 5-0 with a 134-110 victory over the Lakers on Wednesday night.
It is Cleveland’s best start since the 2016-17 season, when LeBron James was wearing No. 23 for the Cavs.
Cleveland led by as many as 28 points and overcame a major foul disparity, committing 26 fouls to Los Angeles’ seven.
LeBron, 39, was cheered throughout pre-game warm-ups and during his traditional pregame powder toss along the scorer’s table. He also thrilled the crowd with a breakaway dunk in the first minute. A tribute video for James and rookie guard Bronny was played during the first half.
With the outcome decided, LeBron went to the bench for good with 9:13 remaining. He finished with 26 points and six rebounds. The Cleveland crowd started chanting, “We Want Bronny” shortly thereafter.
Bronny entered with 5:16 left and the Cavaliers up 119-98. The 20-year-old assisted on Dalton Knecht’s dunk before scoring his first NBA points on a step-back, 14-foot jumper over Tristan Thompson with 2:03 left. He missed a 3-point attempt with under a minute to play.
LeBron’s dunk to make it 4-0 was the biggest highlight of the first quarter for the Lakers, who succumbed to a barrage of Cavalier 3-pointers. Cleveland shot 17-of-22 from the floor in the first quarter and made 8 of 13 threes. Mitchell had 13 points in the first 5:05 as the hosts led 42-23 after one.
The Cavaliers kept up the pace in the second quarter, leading 57-36 after a dunk by Jarrett Allen with 4:38 left in the half and carrying a 67-48 edge into the halftime locker room. Allen finished with 20 points
Mobley had eight points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, including a wide-open slam to boost the Cavs’ lead to 105-79. Mobley would score 17 in the fourth.
Lakers star Anthony Davis, who entered the game leading the NBA in scoring at 32.8 points a game, finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds.