LeBron James 26pts vs Kobe Bryant 35pts 12/25/09 NBA *lakers vs cavaliers *Christmas Day

Date: December 25, 2009.

Boxscore: http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=291225013

After the Cleveland Cavaliers made the defending NBA champions look ordinary, the Los Angeles Lakers' fans threw up their foam hands in frustration.

Mo Williams scored 28 points, LeBron James added 26 and the Cavaliers beat Los Angeles 102-87 Friday in a game that ended with angry Lakers fans throwing dozens of giveaway foam hands onto the court.

Shaquille O'Neal had 11 points in his latest Los Angeles return with the Cavaliers, who dominated the Lakers with sharp shooting and physical defense, prompting several technical fouls and retaliation hits in a one-sided matchup of title contenders.

The Lakers' crowd lost its holiday spirit with 4:04 left when Lamar Odom's ejection and another T on the Lakers' infuriated bench prompted many fans to throw their pregame presents onto the court. After another foul with 3:45 left, several more foam hands were thrown along with a full water bottle, which skittered between players without hitting anyone.

Kobe Bryant scored 35 points for the Lakers, who had won 16 of 17 before Cleveland's decisive victory behind Williams, James and the Cavs' impressive interior play, which negated the Lakers' usual advantages down low.

After Odom got his second technical foul in an altercation with Williams, the Lakers' bench drew a T -- apparently on purpose -- for delay of game by failing to produce a substitute in a timely manner. When referee Dan Crawford whistled that T, the Staples Center crowd let its hands fly.

The foam hands weren't the usual No. 1 finger normally found at sports events, but a representation of two puppet hands making the "LA" sign in a connection to Nike's advertising campaign featuring puppets of James and Bryant.

But with Williams leading the way in his third straight impressive road game, the Cavs forced Bryant and the Lakers into their least impressive performance in six weeks. The loss dropped the Lakers (23-5) back into a tie with Boston atop the overall NBA standings.

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[itzpacmanx9]

yes kobe has accomplished much and kobe and lebron lead their teams. kobe is amazing and he has the clutch and all that. i feel like kobe doesnt make a team better than lebron does. i think that if you put kobe on the cavs 05-10 they wouldnt make the playoffs because hes just not that kind of player. put lebron on the lakers in those years instead of kobe and i think they would make it no doubt. that right there is what makes lebron the better player in my mind and is the best player in the nba

[BlazemyHaze22]

@itzpacmanx9 I guess you would also want to lose in the 4th Quarter too! Kobe can create shot when LeBron cant. Kobe can play defense when LeBron can barely! Kobe has more Dunk Contest Championships, has has more Finals MVP's,Has has more All-Star MVP's, He has the most points so far in the 2012 season, He has 5 more rings than LeBron, Kobe shakes hands after he loses games, Kobe scored 81 points in ONE game, Kobe had 6 game winners last year (clutch), and last he has a hair line.(no more space)

[luvxbum15]

why are fans of the both players are keep on arguing that Dennis Rodman and MJ says Kobe is better than Lebron. .and LBJ himself also admits that KOBE is better than him. .he also added that, when lakers has its game then James will always watch KOBE to learn more about everything. .in the same way he is just a big fan of Kobe Bryant. .the best NBA Player nowadays! thumbs up if your a KB24 fan!

[esenorteno]

@BlazemyHaze22 itzpacmanx9 is right dude, lebron is a better player and can make his team better, how can you deny this? have you seen how he moves with the ball? he's a big athletic point guard basically, and he can make his teammates better just look at the cavs, winning back to back 60+ games then having the worst record in the league. kobe has had better teams, and has won because of that, but he cant make his teamates better if anything he makes them worse. look at gasol.

[Azndrag0n95]

lebron james is all based on how athletic he is, once he starts to lose all his muscle and not that athletic no more he will not be that good. Kobe is a smart player and knows all the fundamentals

[Dantedijon]

@air45rose Dude lebrons defense is garbage compared to kobes, kobe can make impossible shots lebron cant make, yea lebron is a tmeam player but as in skill wise he cant touch kobe, michael jordan said kobe is the next him not lebron

[air45rose]

@Dantedijon Do you think Lebron is that arrogant? If watch games you will know this. Back 1992 the meadia said that Clyde Drexler was better than Jordan, then Jordan goes out in GM1 of nba finals with 35 in the first half. Lebron just had 31points,8rebounds,8assist,4st­eals,3blocks, against Kobe, now look at the fact that Lebron is a better rebounder,playmaker,defender,a more accurate scorer, and less selfish player. Now give me a legit reason why Kobe is better right now.

[Dantedijon]

@air45rose Lebron said kobes better along with most of nba # NUF SAID

[air45rose]

@Dantedijon Dude stop Lebron is he best player in the league. What does heart have to do you being the 2nd all-time leader in missed shots? What the hell does heart have to with playing up injures so that he can have an excuse from media, when he plays bad. Please watch the games, instead of those espn highlights, and you will know this stuff

[Dantedijon]

@itzpacmanx9 Kobe has more heart then lebron, kobes a better player lebron gives up if they are down, and should i mention the time lebron cried and threw a temper because they were getting their asses handed to them?

[YouSuckMikeHawk]

@BlazemyHaze22 wtf LeBron was 2x runner up for defensive player of the year Kobe was never considered idiot and dunk contest, rings who gives a shit and LeBron is more efficient and scores MORE than Kobe in the last 5 minutes of a game AND per 48 minutes in general, smartass and also at this rate he'll beat Kobe in career scoring and he has more MVP's, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks per game and hasnt missed over 100 last second shots like Kobe(i think he's 27 of 139 in career clutch shots)

[Andrew2296]

you can't compare the two unless kobe was younger than he is now, LeBron is the about 6 years younger than kobe.