Lakers Gameday | 02/08/09 | Lakers 101, Cavaliers 91

CLEVELAND(AP) No second All-Star. No triple-double for LeBron James. And now, no more home winning streak.

It's been a rough few days for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lamar Odom scored a season-high 28 points, Kobe Bryant added 19 and the streak-breaking Los Angeles Lakers handed Cleveland its first loss at home this season, 101-91 on Sunday.

The Cavaliers came in 23-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, but were stopped by the Lakers, who ended Boston's 19-game winning streak on Christmas Day and halted a 12-game run by the Celtics earlier this week.

James finished with 16 points on just 5-of-20 shooting for Cleveland, which hadn't lost at home since Game 5 against Washington in the first round of last season's playoffs.

The Lakers weren't intimidated in the NBA's rowdiest arena and went 6-0 on a road trip that also included stops in Minnesota, Memphis, New York, Toronto and Boston.

Pau Gasol added 18 points with 12 rebounds for Los Angeles, which played a solid all-around game and made just six turnovers - none over the final 19:28. The Lakers' trip started rocky with center Andruw Bynum injuring his knee against the Grizzlies, but it couldn't have ended any better.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 22 to lead Cleveland. Mo Williams, whose All-Star snub had infuriated the Cavs, scored 19 and James finished with 12 assists and eight rebounds. It was James' first game since his apparent historic triple-double at Madison Square Garden was downgraded when the league took away one of his 10 rebounds.

Odom, who added a season-best 17 rebounds, scored 15 in the third quarter, when the Lakers outscored the Cavaliers 31-16 to turn a 10-point deficit into a 82-77 lead entering the fourth.

Odom scored 13 of Los Angeles' last 16 points to close the quarter, capping his one-man scorefest with a two-handed dunk off a miss in the final second as the Lakers became just the fourth team this season to lead Cleveland at home after three.

The Lakers pushed their lead to 10 before the Cavaliers rallied and closed to 93-89 on two free throws by Ilgauskas with 3:06 left. But Bryant, who was battling flulike symptoms, hit a high-arching fadeaway, and Gasol dropped one of two free throws to make it 96-89 when the jumbo scoreboard above midcourt inside Quicken Loans Arena went dark, a symbolic moment for Cleveland's players and fans.

James was stripped on the Cavs' next possession, and Gasol made two more free throws and scored on a putback as the Lakers put an exclamation point on one of their biggest wins this season.

Cleveland's crowd was at a playoff pitch from the outset for one of the most anticipated games of the season, a matchup of the league's top stars, both leading MVP candidates, and two of the NBA's best teams.

But the game never materialized into a Bryant vs. James affair as Odom stole the spotlight.

Earlier this week, Lakers coach Phil Jackson attributed some of Cleveland's dominance at home to a raucous crowd that may influence the officials.

"They all wear No. 23 and help him throw that (expletive) up in the air when he's at the scorer's desk,'' Jackson said. "He gets away with murder, on top of it, on his home court.''

Jackson slightly backed off from those remarks before the game.

"I'm just saying, it's home court,'' he said. "There are going to be more fans who will be involved in every bump and grind and whatever happens individually to him. Those things will affect the decisions of referees.''

James hadn't heard Jackson's remarks.

"Me get calls?'' he said in a disbelieving tone. "You guys know Phil. He always makes a comment before a big game or rivalry game. He always says something to throw people's focus off. But you guys know that I don't get as many calls as I should get. We're not going to go there.''

James was careful not to complain about losing his triple-double in New York, but he was clearly miffed by the league's decision.

"Um. Should I say something?'' he wondered before opting to keep his opinion a secret. "We won the basketball game and that's all that matters.''

Notes: Cavs F Sasha Pavlovic sprained his right ankle late in the first quarter and did not return. Pavlovic had missed Cleveland's two previous games with the flu. ... Before the game, Jackson was told Celtics coach Doc Rivers was fined $15,000 by the NBA for complaining about the officiating following Boston's overtime loss to the Lakers on Thursday night. "Is that all?'' Jackson said. "It should have been more. That's Boston.'' ... Lakers F Adam Morrison, acquired in a trade from Charlotte on Saturday for Vladimir Radmanovic, has not yet taken his physical.

To say it's been an eventful week for LeBron James and Kobe Bryant would be an understatement.

After each topped the headlines for their performances at Madison Square Garden, Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers beat the defending champions on the same day James criticized the league for disrespecting a teammate. If that wasn't enough, James also was stripped of his rare feat at the Garden.

To cap off this extraordinary week, the league's two most dynamic players get the opportunity to square off Sunday when James' Cavaliers (39-9) and Bryant's Lakers (40-9) meet at Quicken Loans Arena in a matchup featuring the best team from each conference.

Bryant, the league's reigning MVP, opened this week by setting a Madison Square Garden record with 61 points in Los Angeles' 126-117 win at New York on Monday.

Not to be outdone, James, a front-runner for this season's MVP, scored a season-high 52 points while adding 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Cleveland's 107-102 win at MSG on Wednesday.

"I don't go out there for the numbers, I just play my game," James said. "You guys seen every phase of my game, the scoring, the rebounding, the assists and defensively just trying to attack the opposing team."

That triple-double lasted for only two days, though, as the NBA stripped James of one of his 10 rebounds after reviewing game tape on Friday.

If his triple-double had stood, it would have been the first 50-point game in a triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Instead, it was the second time the Cavaliers were upset by a league decision in as many days.

On Thursday, commissioner David Stern selected Boston guard Ray Allen to replace injured Orlando guard Jameer Nelson instead of Cleveland's Mo Williams at next week's All-Star game in Phoenix. Williams, who is averaging 17.1 points and has become James' sidekick, was originally left off the All-Star roster in a vote by Eastern Conference coaches.

"That's how they always treat us," said James, a five-time All-Star averaging 28.5 points. "They wouldn't take me (as an All-Star) if they didn't have to.

"You look at all the teams with some of the better records in this league. Look at the Lakers, they have two All-Stars. Orlando, two (initially three) All-Stars. Boston, two (now three) All-Stars. San Antonio, two All-Stars. All the good teams in the league that have really good records and you look at us with just one All-Star. It's a total smack in the face."

Cleveland, which has won eight of its last nine games, boasts the top record in the East and can take over the league's best record by defeating Western Conference-leading Los Angeles.

The Lakers, who have won nine of 10, already defeated the Cavs 105-88 on Jan. 19, and would own the tiebreaker for home-court advantage in the finals - if they both make it - with a victory Sunday.

Winning at Cleveland won't be easy, though, as the Cavs have won all 23 games at Quicken Loans Arena this season. They've also won four straight home games over the Lakers since a 111-106 overtime loss on Feb. 4, 2004.

Neither James nor Bryant had stellar performances in their meeting at Staples Center three weeks ago. James had 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists, while Bryant finished with 20 points on 9-of-22 shooting, 12 assists and five turnovers. Bryant, an 11-time All-Star averaging 27.5 points, suffered a dislocated right ring finger, but stayed in the game

Pau Gasol, Los Angeles' other All-Star, led the Lakers with 22 points and 13 boards in the win over the Cavs, and has stepped up his game since center Andrew Bynum was lost for eight to 12 weeks to a knee injury.

Gasol had 24 points and 14 rebounds in Thursday's 110-109 overtime victory over Boston, snapping the Celtics' 12-game win streak in a rematch of last season's NBA finals. The 7-footer is averaging 28.7 points on 70.8 percent shooting and 14.3 boards in three games since Bynum got hurt.

"(Gasol) was huge," said Bryant, who had 26 points and 10 rebounds. "He played strong. He played physical. That's what happens. A team against you is playing physical with you, so you have to play physical right back."

The Lakers snapped a five-game losing streak to the Cavs with the win three weeks ago, and have not swept a season series from them since 2003-04 - James' rookie season.