LOS ANGELES _ After the Cavaliers traded him after he'd played just 15 games, Isaiah Thomas wasted no time saying he believed they'd given up on him too soon.
On Sunday in Staples Center, Thomas proved his point and extracted his revenge.
Thomas turned his words into action, scoring 20 points, 14 in the second half, to spark the Los Angeles Lakers to a 127-113 victory.
The defeat dropped the Cavs (38-28) into fourth place in the Eastern Conference, one-half game behind the Indiana Pacers, who defeated the Boston Celtics earlier in the day.
The Cavs saw a streak of seven consecutive victories over the Lakers snapped, which had been Cleveland's longest string of wins in series history. The Cavs had also won four in a row at Staples Center.
The Cavs slipped to 1-2 on a six-game, five-city road trip that spans 11 days. They will fly to Phoenix on Monday.
The game marked the first meeting since Thomas was traded to the Lakers with Channing Frye on Feb. 8. Thomas' first field goal attempt was an air ball, but he hit 7-of-16 shots, 2-of-7 from long range, with five rebounds and nine assists in 31 minutes.
Thomas turned up the intensity during a 17-2 run late in the third quarter as the Lakers opened up a 98-79 lead with 12 seconds left in the period. On four consecutive possessions, Thomas hit a jumper, two free throws, assisted on a Julius Randle dunk and hit another jumper for a 96-79 advantage. The Lakers closed out the surge with an Alex Caruso basket on a Brook Lopez assist, while the Cavs' only points in that span came on a field goal by Ante Zizic.
Thomas left to a big ovation with 1:33 remaining.
The Cavs were without forwards Rodney Hood (low back strain), Cedi Osman (left hip strain), Kevin Love (broken left hand) and center Tristan Thompson (sprained right ankle). The latter three are at least a week away from returning, Osman two, and Hood is day-to-day. Jeff Green started in place of Hood.
The short-handed Cavs had to give important minutes to Zizic, Jose Calderon and John Holland. It took them a full quarter to remember how to play team basketball, recording only three assists in the first 12 minutes.
If the young Lakers players were on a mission to impress LeBron James and convince him to join them in free agency this summer, they didn't blow him away. Kyle Kuzma finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Lonzo Ball contributed five points, three rebounds and seven assists.
James notched his 39th double-double of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. James hit 9-of-20 field goals and 2-for-8 3-pointers, while also adding seven assists.
Not only were the Cavs low in numbers, but they were short on big men, with 6-foot-9 Larry Nance Jr. playing 26 minutes against his former team. With 16 points, the Revere High School product scored in double digits for a career-high seventh consecutive game. Nance also added eight rebounds.
Zizic scored a career-high 15 points with seven rebounds.
The Lakers pounced on the size advantage as Randle posted a line of a career-high 36 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, and center Brook Lopez scored 22 points with eight rebounds. Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope contributed 20 points and six rebounds.
The Cavs had just three assists on 11 field goals in the first quarter, but totaled eight assists (four by James) on 12 makes in the second quarter.
The pregame hype centered on the Lakers' hopes of luring James if he opts out of his contract and becomes a free agent in July. A personal injury attorney put up four billboards with the featured message #LABron.
Asked if the young Lakers would be distracted by the James-to-LA hype, Lakers coach Luke Walton said, "I hope not. It shouldn't be. We're playing on national TV on a Sunday, the nice white uniforms on, the focus will be our team trying to beat their team. None of that should be big enough to distract what our guys have going on in their heads."
The Cavs and Lakers split the two-game series, with the Cavs winning 121-112 on Dec. 14 at Quicken Loans Arena.
