After defeating the Cavaliers 116-97, the Lakers win four straight and climb into eighth place in the West

With a 116-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, D’Angelo Russell scored 28 points, LeBron James added 24, and the Los Angeles Lakers moved into eighth place in the Western Conference. This victory extended their winning run to four games.

In the Lakers’ (45-33) ninth victory in ten games, Anthony Davis contributed 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Cleveland’s Darius Garland scored 26 points, while Caris LeVert contributed 21 points off the bench. The Cavaliers (46-32) lost two games in a row and three of their previous four, but they are still in third place in the East.

Russell scored 23 points and made six 3-pointers, five of which helped the Lakers grab a nine-point lead in the first half.

James is now 18-4 versus the club he played for two distinct periods of 11 seasons. Against the club he led to its lone NBA championship in 2016, he had two alley-oop dunks.

In the third quarter, Davis scored 11 points, nine of which came during a 19-0 outburst. For a four-minute stretch, Cleveland led 71-67 before the Lakers took back the lead.

Cleveland closed the gap to 65-56 at the half after Los Angeles opened the second quarter on a 24-4 surge that gave them a 16-point advantage.

With an 11-2 run to start the second half, Garland, who set a career-high with five steals, scored two 3-pointers to level the game at 67-all.