"I've never seen an L.A. crowd react like this before" - When Cavs obliterated Lakers on Christmas Day
The 2009-10 NBA season was Lebron James' last in his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fans didn't realize it at the time, and James probably didn't either, but at the end of the season, he would take his talents to Miami.
The NBA Championship was won by the Los Angeles Lakers that season for the second year in a row, led by back-to-back NBA Finals MVP performances from the legendary Kobe Bryant.
Both teams would finish as the first seed in their respective conferences that season, yet the Cavs fell to the Boston Celtics before they could reach the Finals. However, the teams faced each other twice, and the first time was on Christmas Day, in what many thought was a preview of the Finals later that season.
Both teams were the number one seed in their division at the time, and entering the game the Cavs were 22-8, while the Lakers were 23-4. However, the game would be much more one-sided than many fans had anticipated, resulting in some chaotic behavior from the Laker faithful.
Finals Preview
To this point in his career, Lebron James made it to the Finals just once, in 2007 against the Spurs with a Cavs roster that admittedly should've been nowhere near the Finals but were carried by the young James.
Fans who hoped for a Kobe-MJ final during the Jordan era but never got one were hoping for a Kobe-Lebron battle, another passing of the torch. Matchups between the two teams were as close as one could get. The previous season, when the Lakers and Cavs played in the regular season, the league was treated with one of the greatest MVP bouts ever.
In the 2008-09 season, both The King and The Black Mamba fought to win the regular season MVP award before Bron ultimately came out on top. He would average 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.2 assists, while Bryant would finish with 26.8 points, 5.2 boards, and 4.9 assists.
The two faced off in a classic battle that season, where both Kobe and Lebron shined for their respective teams. However, the result did not indicate the MVP winner that season, though it showed who would be the NBA Champion and Finals MVP.
Christmas 2009
The 2009-10 season was great for both LA and Cleveland. Entering Christmas Day, both teams were top of their respective conferences, and fans saw this game as a potential preview for the NBA Finals. Lebron vs. Kobe, the future of the NBA vs. the man who dominated the NBA for the past decade.
Additionally, the matchup featured the battle between last season's regular season MVP and the Finals MVP. All things pointed towards a tightly contested game that would go down to the wire. Yet, what happened in the game was completely different.
The Lakers would take a quick 8-2 lead to start the game, but their lead disappeared instantly, and with 3:41 left in the second quarter, the Purple and Gold found themselves losing the game 47-27 and would never recover. The contect ended with the Cavs winning with a 15-point margin, though fans, players, and coaches of LA were all extremely dissatisfied with the results.
"I've never seen an L.A. crowd react like this before," Phil Jackson said post-game. "I like their enthusiasm, I didn't like their demonstrative act. It wasn't a well- refereed game, it wasn't a well-played game and so as a response, the crowd was unhappy about it."
LA wasn't used to losing games in that manner, being outmatched from start to finish. The previous season's champions, the Lakers, had expected every game to be close, not being down by 20 before the first half was even over. The players expected the same and were equally surprised, given the nature of the loss.
"We can't cruise and expect things to come our way just because we have such a high quality of players," Lakers Center Pau Gasol said.
The matchup also had a few minor headlines, including a Kobe-Shaq matchup, whose feud had been well documented during their time as teammates. Nevertheless, the headlines were on the Lakers' embarrassing defeat.
Ultimately, LA would have the last laugh that season, as they repeated and won back-to-back finals, with back-to-back Finals MVPs for Bryant. However, it was still a Christmas to forget for Lakers fans and one that could be seen as a passing of the torch from The Black Mamba to The King.
