CLEVELAND -- The
Los Angeles Lakers left
Robert Sacre on the court after he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Coach Mike D'Antoni felt it was the best move for his depleted team.
It's been that kind of year for the short-handed Lakers.
Los Angeles lost two more players to injuries Wednesday night and had to go to a little-known NBA rule to hold on for a 119-108 victory against the
Cleveland Cavaliers.
"That was, by far, one of the strangest games I've ever seen," D'Antoni said.
Rookie
Ryan Kelly scored a career-high 26 points and
Steve Blake had his first career triple-double for Los Angeles, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Lakers set a franchise record for 3-pointers, going 18-for-37 from long range.
But Los Angeles' first win in two weeks was overshadowed by a bizarre ending.
The Lakers had eight available players going into the game. Then
Nick Young twisted his left knee in the first half, and
Chris Kaman fouled out early in the fourth quarter. When
Jordan Farmar left with leg cramps in the final period, that put Los Angeles at five players.
Sacre committed his sixth foul with 3:32 remaining but stayed in the game because D'Antoni was out of healthy bodies. The Lakers were assessed a technical foul.
"That was just crazy," Sacre said. "When I got my sixth foul, I was just like, 'Oh, dang!' Then I got to come back in, so I thought it was something special. I didn't know what was going on."
Each side has to have five players on the court at all times during an NBA game. With the Lakers down to five healthy players, D'Antoni was informed by the officials that he could leave Sacre on the floor and any additional foul on the center would also result in a technical.
