The Los Angeles Lakers look to continue a pair of winning streaks on Friday night as they host the Cleveland Cavaliers at Staples Center. The Lakers have won four straight games, and sit atop the Pacific Division at 8-4. They have also won their last seven home games, a streak they hope will continue Friday night.
Kobe Bryant has been on a scoring surge of late, and now leads the NBA in scoring with an average of 30.3 points per game. He has scored 88 total points in his last two games, putting up 40 in back-to-back games for the first time since November 2009. The last time Bryant scored 40 or more points in three consecutive games was in March 2007 when he turned the trick in five straight contests.
The last time the Cavaliers came to Los Angeles to play the Lakers, they nearly got doubled up. The Lakers beat the Cavs last January 11 by a score of 112-57, the fewest points allowed by the Lakers in the shot clock era and the third-largest margin of victory in franchise history. Cleveland was in the midst of a 26-game losing streak at the time, but would get their revenge by beating the Lakers one month later in Cleveland, 104-99.
Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving has excelled in his first 10 NBA games, averaging 16.6 points and 5.2 assists for Cleveland while shooting 47.0% from the field and 37.0% from three-point range. He scored 26 points in Phoenix Thursday night in a win over the Suns, his third straight game of 20 points or more.
Pau Gasol for the Lakers has a double-double in each of his last four games, averaging 15.0 points and 12.3 rebounds during that span.
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