JJ Redick breaks down a unique Cavs court that brought out Luka Doncic
Cleveland Cavaliers destroyed Los Angeles Lakers 129-99 despite Evan Mobley and Darius Garland are unavailable. But before the Cavs won, Luka Doncic briefly left the game due to injury. After the game, the coach of the Lakers JJ Redick broke the Cavs court at Rocket Arena, citing an unsafe area to playaccording to The Athletic.
“It’s absolutely a safety hazard. And I don’t know why it’s still like that. I don’t know. You know, you can make formal appeals. A lot of times you don’t see any change when you make a formal appeal,” Redick said after the game.
A unique feature of the court for the Cavs is the gap between the court and the arena floor. After all, the difference is about eight inches between the edge of the court and the floor of the arena. Because of this, there is a greater chance of a slip or some kind of injury. In 2023, Miami Heat guard Drew Smith injured his right knee after becoming stuck between the court and the floor when contesting a three-point shot. Although the Heat reportedly reached out to the NBA with safety concerns, nothing seemed to change.
In the night when LeBron James is back in Cleveland in what could be his last appearance in the arena where he spent many years, nothing went right for the Lakers. Despite taking a 40-30 lead into the second quarter, everything went downhill after that. A terrible third quarter put them in a 20-point hole they couldn’t climb out of.
However, Dončić returned after a few minutes of going to the dressing room. However, he failed to prevent a bad third quarter for the Lakersin which the Cavs outscored them 42-22. The Lakers will continue their road trip on Friday when they head to Capital One Arena to face the Washington Wizards.
2026-01-29 14:57:00
