Kyrie Irving scored 28 points as Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-94.
Irving, who was out for 11 games due to a finger injury, made his return memorable by helping his team to an impressive victory. Irving was looking fit against the Lakers and also had 11 assists in the game.
"This is one of the most challenging stretches of my 17 years, and the most baffling, too," the Associated Press quoted Kobe Bryant as saying. "We have the talent and personnel to do it, but we're not, and it's baffling. It's extremely frustrating.
"It doesn't make any sense. We're still finding ways to lose games."
For the Lakers, Bryant contributed with a massive 42 points and made 16 of 28 shots from the floor. Dwight Howard scored 19 points and chipped in with 20 rebounds, whereas Metta World Peace finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
"We have to stop the bleeding - somehow," said Howard, who forced a trade this summer from Orlando to join the Lakers to try and win some championships. "We can't let this kill our spirits too much. This is tough on all of us right now.
"We want to win. We're sick of losing. We all understand that situations like this don't last forever."
For Cleveland, C.J. Miles added 28 points, five rebounds and made 10 of 18 from the field, while Anderson Varejao scored 20 points and chipped in with nine rebounds.
The Lakers trailed after the first quarter by six points and could not stop the Cavaliers even in the second quarter and were outscored 25-16.
They were trailing by 16 points in the third quarter. Bryant added 16 points in the fourth quarter, but could not bring his team back.
"We played very uninspired basketball, offensively and defensively," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We play at a very slow pace and we struggle. Maybe it shifts over to defense. Maybe we're slow. Maybe we can't do it. . It's my job to fix it -- and that's what I'll do."
Bryant was visibly upset after the loss.
"I'm very upset," Bryant said. "When things get hard, you should get more determined, not shake your heads.
"It just seems when it rains it pours. It's like this cloud is following us around at all times. I'm one of the fastest guys on the team -- and I'm like 50. What does that tell you?"
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