Nice post on Dion rusty, thanks.

It does seem to be a maturity issue (his game is like Tyreke, maybe his peronality too?). He's even a "tweener" like Tyreke.

I do think it makes it tough to trade the kid - could really blossom because tools and physicality is there. He has that "pro" body.

You can definitely see what the brass saw in him, but wow, he is so raw. Big gamble with that #4 pick.

Cavs give up 63 to the Lakers in the first half. A crummy Lakers team. Mike Brown what are you coaching ? Lakers scored 40 in the 2nd quarter.

Dion with 7 total minutes. Jack and Delladova with more minutes. Hope for the best in the 2nd half.

Deng and Andy put the team on their backs in the 3rd quarter.

LOL, even a crummy Lakers team is going to score points with D'Antoni running things. Kendall Marshall with 16 assists is proving to be a great fit in that system too.

We'll take that win on the road!

LOS ANGELES -- Mike Brown had no interest in rehashing his past with the Los Angeles Lakers -- not right now, not with his new team struggling.

He's much more intrigued by the possibilities in the Cleveland Cavaliers' future after a breakout game by their newest acquisition.

Luol Deng hit five 3-pointers while scoring 27 points, Anderson Varejao added 18 points and 18 rebounds, and the Cavaliers beat the spiraling Lakers 120-118 on Tuesday night.

Dion Waiters scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers improved to 4-16 on the road. They also won for Brown in his return to Staples Center to face the Lakers, who fired him early last season before descending into the mess of a team that couldn't keep up with Cleveland down the stretch.

"I don't care where I am, I really want wins," Brown said. "If we win, I can take some satisfaction from it, but there's a lot of learning we can do from this game, too."

Jodie Meeks hit six 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 26 points in injury-plagued Los Angeles' fifth straight defeat. Nick Young scored 28 points, but the Lakers have lost 11 of 12 heading into a punishing seven-game trip starting Wednesday in Phoenix.

"This is hard," said Young, who missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. "We're losing, and we're losing players daily. It's frustrating, but we've still got to get up and play basketball. Nobody wants to get embarrassed. You've got to still take pride in that Lakers uniform."

Brown coached just 71 games with the Lakers, who hired him to succeed 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson in 2011 and then pulled the plug on his tenure five games into last season. Brown expressed no hard feelings or regret about his brief tenure with the Lakers, saying he's still on good terms with Kobe Bryant and other Los Angeles players.

Deng had five rebounds and four assists his first big game since joining Cleveland in a trade with Chicago a week ago. He was the centerpiece of the highest-scoring regulation performance of the season by the Cavs, who hit 13 of 17 3-pointers and outrebounded Los Angeles 48-35 to earn their second win in three stops on a five-game trip.

"There's a lot more optimism and a lot more talent now that Luol has been added to the mix," said Kyrie Irving, who had 13 points. "He's a great addition, and to get him on this road trip was big for us."

Deng and Waiters put the Cavs ahead during a 12-0 rally early in the fourth quarter, but Young hit three free throws with 25.3 seconds to play, trimming the lead to two points. Tristan Thompson missed two of four free throws in the final 16 seconds, but Young missed two late 3-pointers.

"We talked at halftime about coming out with a lot of energy, and I thought we responded well," Deng said. "Once we got the lead, they tried to get back in the game, and it was back and forth. But I thought we did a good job of keeping the lead and controlling the game at the end."

Pau Gasol had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the Lakers' only home game in a 22-day span. Los Angeles will be away for the next two weeks while the Grammys take over Staples Center.

Kendall Marshall had 10 points and 16 assists for Los Angeles, which had just nine players in uniform. Bryant, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jordan Farmar and Xavier Henry are all out with long-term injuries, and Gasol determined he could play on his injured big toe only after pregame warm-ups.

"It wasn't like our energy and focus weren't there," Gasol said. "We hung in there, but we couldn't pull it off. ... The defense needs to improve drastically, that's for sure. Whatever it takes to secure those boards, we need to be there."

Game notes

Henry won't return from the bone bruise in his right knee for at least another week, but he's likely to be the first injured player back for Los Angeles. ... Nash won't travel on the Lakers' upcoming road trip, instead heading back to Vancouver for rehab on his assorted injuries. The two-time MVP hasn't played since Nov. 10. ... F Earl Clark, who parlayed a decent season with the Lakers into a free-agent contract with Cleveland last summer, scored two points in five minutes.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

As the proud owner of DeMarcus Cousins in fantasy, I am sure I don't have to tell rusty about him. But get this, 19 points and 10 rebounds in ONE QUARTER against Indiana? This guy is an insane talent, especially at his size.


DeMarcus Cousins - F/C - Kings

DeMarcus Cousins hit 12-of-21 shots and 7-of-7 free throws on his way to 31 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and a block in Tuesday's loss to the Pacers.

The Pacers pulled away in the fourth quarter, sending Cousins and the rest of the Kings starters to the bench early, but he did his damage in the third quarter when he went off for 19 points and 10 boards.

Not bad against the league's best defensive team, and Cousins has now racked up 11 straight double-doubles as his dream season continues.

Cavaliers 120, Lakers 118: Deng scores 27 points, Varejao grabs 18 rebounds in victory

By Jason Lloyd
Beacon Journal sports writer

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luol Deng puts up a shot as Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)


LOS ANGELES: The evidence behind how important of a game this was to the Cavaliers was hidden in the box score. During his first two games with his new team, Deng had a soft 30-minute limit as part of a precaution given his recent Achilles injury.

Against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, the first game after Sunday’s miserable 44-point loss to the Sacramento Kings, Deng played 38 minutes. The Cavs needed every one of them and every one of his 27 points in a 120-118 victory that was much more difficult than it should’ve been given the Lakers’ injury-ravaged roster.

At this point, however, the Cavs aren’t picky. Every win feels like a big one. They’ve won three of their last four games and have doubled their road victories total through their first three stops on this road trip.

Deng began the night shooting 28 percent on 3-pointers, but he went 5-for-5, including three big ones in the third quarter to turn the momentum after the Lakers scored 40 points in the second quarter to send the Cavs stumbling to the locker room down 6.

As for Deng’s minute limit?

“What minute limit? We’re trying to win, baby,” Brown said. “It’s out the window right now. If I get reprimanded, I’ll think about it later.”

Most players tried downplaying the importance of this game, but this West Coast trip began against the only three teams in the West with sub-.400 winning percentages.

The Cavs were already embarrassed by one of those teams Sunday in a 44-point loss to the Kings, then trailed the Lakers 63-57 at the half after the Cavs’ defense disintegrated in the second quarter. The Lakers, with just nine healthy players, shot 13-for-17 in the quarter and scored more points than any team has against the Cavs in a single quarter.

“I thought tonight we were bad defensively, but offensively we did a lot of good things that we don’t want to go unnoticed,” Deng said. “I thought our bigs were great. Andy and Tristan kept us in the game with offensive rebounding and second-chance shots.”

Anderson Varejao had 18 points, 18 rebounds and 6 assists, falling just shy of his first career triple-double. Dion Waiters had 17 points off the bench despite battling early foul trouble and Kyrie Irving had 13 points and 4 assists while battling late foul trouble.

With Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jordan Farmar and Steve Blake out with injuries, the Lakers had little firepower. Even Pau Gasol was a game-time decision with a toe injury. Still, the Cavs struggled putting them away until the game’s final seconds.

Nick Young made three free throws to pull the Lakers within 118-116 with 25 seconds left. Tristan Thompson split a pair of free throws, giving the Lakers a chance to tie and force overtime. But Young’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left rattled out and Thompson grabbed the rebound and the victory.

Despite constant questions about his return to Los Angeles, Brown insisted he didn’t feel any vindication winning here after the Lakers fired him just five games into last season. He’s more worried about trying to coax this young team into the playoffs.

The rest of this trip gets more difficult. The Cavs play at the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, the current No. 2 seed in the West, before finishing the trip at the Denver Nuggets, who are also battling for a playoff berth.

But the Cavs are assured of returning home with at least two road wins after starting this trip with an awful 2-15 road record.

“I’ll fly for 24 hours to get a win on the road, I don’t care where it is,” Brown said. “We’re in L.A., I’m happy to get a win in L.A. If we were in Golden State, I’d be happy to get the win in Golden State. So it’s not anything extra special. I’m just excited to get a road win.”

Cavs will keep Waiters until they extend Irving. They simply have to! If Irving won't sign an extension they will have to trade him and move Waiters to the point. If Irving signs his extension Waiters and AV can be packaged for a very solid piece. Grant has done a very nice job since LBJ left. I don't want to hear about the drafting. These recent draft classes have been terrible!!!

I don't think they will ever trade Andy.

2 out of 3 on the road trip so far. The 40+ loss only counts once.

If Irving won't sign an extension they will have to trade him and move Waiters to the point.

I think rusty would agree, Waiters does not have the mentality to be a point guard. Not even remotely.

There are point guards who are scorers first (Jrue Holiday, Isiah Thomas type guys) but Waiters just doesn't have the instincts that point guards have to have.

This guy's perfect role is pure scorer off the bench, 6th man.

Do we want to do to Waiters what we did to Ron Harper? Not saying that Waiters is that good, but could he?

IMO he could definitely end up Ron Harper level.

That said, that doesn't mean the Cavs should be afraid to trade him because of that. He could also end up a one dimensional guy off NBA benches.

Anthony Bennett - F - Cavaliers

Anthony Bennett said on Wednesday he would be open to playing in the D-League and referred to himself as "clueless."

"It's not a bad thing, especially going down there, hopefully playing a lot, going out there, building my confidence," Bennett said. He needs all of the confidence he can get right now.

The top pick in the 2013 NBA Draft is shooting a pathetic 26.9 percent from the field this season, has an average of 6.9 fouls per 48 minutes and has some major deficiencies on defense.

Thompson and Waiters for Kevin Love....