The Los Angeles Lakers (9-7) banded together and overcame a host of injuries, turnovers, and missed LeBron James shots to fend off the Cleveland Cavaliers, 121-115, in the opening stop of their four-game road trip on Saturday at RocketMortgage FieldHouse.

Seven players hit double-figures, led by a destructive Anthony Davis (32 points, 13 rebounds), as the Lakers enjoyed a season-best assist rate. Amongst a crowded field of contributors, nobody came up bigger than Max Christie.

Considering the opponent and his role in the dub, Saturday marked the standout performance of Christie's young career. In his second start of the season, the 20-year-old buzzed and cut his way to 12 points (5-for-7 shooting), five rebounds, and three assists in 33 minutes. He converted 2-of-4 from 3-point range; the Lakers were 9-for-27.

Most impressively, Christie shored up the Lakers' point-of-attack defense in the second half — Darius Garland's exit helped, too — highlighted by a pair of crunch-time stops on Donovan Mitchell (22 points, 4-for-18 shooting). He was 1-for-10 with six points in the second half.

“A matchup like that, all of those guys he had to try to defend. Donovan down the stretch toward the end of the game. A huge, huge challenge,” Darvin Ham said about Christie. “And one that's much needed. He was awesome tonight. We gave him a shoutout after the game. Everyone here is pulling for him, knowing how special he can be, how special he already is … He was ready to go. Kid works on his game feverishly.”

“When you're trusted by your coaches, one, that helps,” added LeBron. “Knowing that he's gonna get his number called, he's been ready. And he stepped up. He was big-time tonight. One of the tough matchups in this league is Donovan Mitchell, obviously, with his ability to score in all three levels … I just think he did a good job just trying to keep his body on him, make him take tough shots, not foul.”

“He got two big stops for us,” said Davis.” There's nothing much more you can ask for, for him only being in his second year and taking on that challenge. It shows a lot about him.”

 

The Lakers are short on perimeter defenders, as Cam Reddish (groin), Gabe Vincent (knee), and Jarred Vanderbilt (heel) remain sidelined (Rui Hachimura is out indefinitely, too). Christie has now checked Kevin Irving and Mitchell in consecutive games.

 

“Whenever he has the opportunity to make an imprint on the game, he does,” said Austin Reaves (15 points, 10 assists). “Just because he's always ready. He never takes shortcuts.”

Reddish was initially listed as questionable for Saturday's game, so he could return to the lineup as soon as Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers. Reddish, a recent Player of the Week candidate, will slot back into the starting group. Vanderbilt and Vincent will soon garner burn. Christie, though, after a quiet start, is starting to build a case for a steady rotation role. His energy, movement, and defensive utility won't waver. It would help if his 3-point shooting — 20% this year, 41.9% last year — didn't either.

All three Lakers who came off the bench in Cleveland produced. In addition to Reaves, Christian Wood had 13 important first-half points, while Jaxson Hayes was a team-high +14 on 5-for-5 shooting. Ultimately, though, it was Davis (23 second-half points) who powered the Lakers to a challenging road win with a bounce-back, assertive two-way performance against the Cavs' imposing frontline.

“We expect a lot from AD,” said LeBron. “We want him to be aggressive offensively and at the same time anchor our defense. Tonight was an AD Game.”

LeBron's latest homecoming (a museum in his honor opened in Akron on Saturday) was unusually ho-hum: 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists, 8-f0r-23 from the field, 1-for-9 from 3. For this night — and ideally, many more going forward — he was carried by his teammates.

“We just played well, together on both ends of the floor,” summarized AD. “A good team win to start the road trip.”