sport news NBA ROUND-UP: Donovan Mitchell's 43 points denies LeBron James and Luka ... trends now
Growing up in New York, Donovan Mitchell idolized LeBron James.
On Tuesday night, he upstaged him as The King returned back to the house that he built.
Mitchell scored a season-high 43 points and Jarrett Allen returned from injury to add 24, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in James' only visit home this season.
Donovan Mitchell was instrumental in the Cavaliers' dismantling of LeBron James's LA Lakers
With Anthony Davis missing the final three quarters because of the flu, the Cavs improved to an NBA-leading 11-1 on their floor, their best start at home since 2015-16, when James led them to a championship.
Mitchell, who has Cleveland fans dreaming of another title run, took over in the second half and scored 29 points with the kind of performance James had routinely during his 11 seasons for the Cavs.
With Cleveland leading by 12 in the fourth, Mitchell buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to finish the Lakers.
James returned to his hometown of CLE and fell to the Cavaliers as LA lost its first game in five
After dropping the shot, the All-Star guard strutted around the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse floor nodding his head as James helplessly watched.
Darius Garland added 21 points and 11 assists for Cleveland. Meanwhile, James finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds, losing for just the third time in 20 games against the Cavs.
Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook added 16 points apiece as Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak stopped.
Mitchell produced a blistering performance with 43 points, six rebounds and five assists
PISTONS 116, HEAT 92
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 of his 31 points in the second half, Alec Burks added 18 and the Pistons
