Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:
Life after LeBron James was going to be difficult for the Cavaliers. Everyone knew that before the season began, but no one saw this coming. Since starting the season 5-5, the Cavs have lost 25 of their past 28 games.
They set two futility records in a 112-57 loss Tuesday to the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers: The 55-point margin of defeat marked the worst loss in franchise history and the 57 points were the fewest the Cavs ever scored in a game.
If the Lakers didn’t score at all in the second half, their 57 points at halftime would have been enough to force overtime. Had the Lakers scored just one more basket, they would have doubled the Cavs’ scoring.
”We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but to come out and not compete? There’s no excuse for that,” said Cavs coach Byron Scott, who won three NBA championships as a player with the Lakers. ”I’m a Cleveland Cavalier right now, and the way we performed, that’s embarrassing to me.”
