The yellow foam hands came flying in from every corner of the lower bowl, sail ing onto the court in doz ens of frisbee- style arches late in the Cavaliers’ dominant victory.
LeBron James was more worried than amused by this unusual display of frustration from the Lakers’ fans — and he got a bit more concerned when at least one water bottle followed the foam.
Despite that bit of surreality in response to the officiating of a physical game, the Cavaliers were hands-down better than the defending NBA champions in a 102-87 victory yesterday in Los Angeles.
“The only thing that you hope doesn’t happen is one of the players getting hit or a referee getting hit, especially by a full water bottle,” James said. “When that came on the court, it was coming pretty fast. You don’t want that to happen because it could definitely hurt somebody. Luckily no one got hurt, and that’s a good thing.”
The fans were driven to throw up their hands — not the usual foam No. 1 fingers, but a representation of two puppet hands making the “LA” symbol in a tie-in to Nike’s LeBron-and-Kobe Bryant marketing campaign — by Lamar Odom’s ejection with 4:04 to play. After Bryant, who scored 35 points, received the Lakers’ fifth technical with 3:45 left, more hands took flight — along with that water bottle.
Mo Williams scored 28 points and James added 26, while Shaquille O’Neal had five dunks among his 11 points in his latest Los Angeles return.
The Cavaliers dominated the Lakers with sharp shooting and physical defense, prompting several technical fouls and retaliation hits — and that was before the crowd lost its holiday spirit by returning their pregame presents.
Celtics 86, Magic 77
In Orlando, Rajon Rondo had 17 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, and the Celtics bullied the Magic with strong defense en route to a victory.
Ray Allen added 18 points and Tony Allen scored 16 in place of the injured Paul Pierce for the Celtics, who rolled to their 14th win in the last 15 games.
The only big blow for the Celtics came in the final minutes, when Kevin Garnett jumped to block a shot by Vince Carter, only to land awkwardly and go tumbling to the ground. He hobbled back to the bench holding his back and didn’t return.
Suns 124, Clippers 93
In Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire led seven Phoenix players in double figures with 26 points and the Suns beat the Clippers for the sixth straight time.
Blazers 107, Nuggets 96
In Portland, Brandon Roy poured in 41 points and Steve Blake scored 14 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the undermanned Blazers won for the fifth time in six games.