NBA Thursday: LeBron James and Cavaliers too much for Lakers

Kobe had a vintage performance with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting in 32 minutes, and kept the Lakers in it for much of the first half with a flurry of shots to keep pace with James.

Bryant got to have a little bit of fun at James’ expense -- he got the star to bite on a pump fake early on.

Kobe’s reaction to Larry Nance’s inbounds attempt could really be a reaction to the Lakers’ entire season. It’s been a “what the f***” kind of season for Lakers fans.

One Last Time: Kobe, LeBron face off in their final matchup

J.R. Smith found himself on a fast break with LeBron James trailing. Naturally, he went the showtime route and put the ball off the backboard for James. Except, his accuracy was not great. Fortunately he has a freak of nature as a teammate who was able to adjust mid air and dunk it lefty instead.

That could have easily been a botched attempt that everyone got a good laugh at. Instead, LeBron did that. James made sure to let Smith know he needs work on his alley-oop assists.

Kobe Bryant may be in the final stage of his career, but he still has enough game to make LeBron James look foolish. For a second, James probably thought he was about to have a huge block. But as soon as he left the ground, Kobe had him and it didn’t take James long to realize his error.

Bryant is limping to the finish line of his career a bit thanks to a serious of injuries, but he still has enough in the tank for the occasional vintage moment.

Randle is yet another NBA big man proving size doesn’t matter -- everyone has to have speed now.

It seems no matter where Aaron Gordon goes, he can’t help but throw down great dunks. We all remember the show he put on during the dunk contest. He’s kept that up during NBA games throwing down dunks that could have been worth a 50 in the contest on multiple occasions.

Now, he’s even taking his dunk talents off the court and onto afternoon TV.