Here is what you need to know before the Lakers face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Las Vegas Summer League semifinals. 1) The Lakers are armed across the roster Nobody at summer league is on the level that Josh Hart is playing at. Last year’s 30th overall pick has been sensational, averaging 21.6 points — more than any other player in Vegas — and 3.0 made 3-pointers — second-most — while shooting strong clips of 47.3 percent from the field and 39.5 beyond the arc. Perhaps most impressively, he has produced at such high volume and efficiency while attempting difficult shots and showing off an array of moves, including off-the-dribble 3’s and Eurosteps. Svi Mykhailiuk has been right behind him, putting up 15.0 points on 47.4 percent shooting, mixing spot-up triples with driving twos. Alex Caruso has been the one setting the table with a team-high 5.4 assists per game, while Jeff Ayres has performed admirably replacing an injured Moe Wagner down low, providing 8.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and strong defense. LeBron showed up, and Josh Hart immediately started putting on a show for his new teammate. - Spot-up 3. - Filthy Eurostep. - Jump passing lane > save loose ball > overpower Ellenson for the layup. Bron clapped in approval from his seat on the baseline. pic.twitter.com/YAUBA7kUu5 — Joey Ramirez (@JoeyARamirez) July 15, 2018 2) It’s been pure purple and gold domination The Lakers are 5-0 at summer league, and have won 11 straight in Vegas dating back to last summer. Somehow, this year’s squad has been even more ruthless than the previous one led by Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma. All but one of L.A.’s games have been won by double figures, and the average margin of victory has been a whopping 15.8 points. Hart’s scoring is clearly the fuel to this machine, but he and his teammates have been even more successful on the defensive side of the ball. The Lakers’ stifling defense has held its opponents to just 36.8 percent shooting from the floor, and a pitiful 24.8 percent on 3-pointers. With a win against Cleveland, the Lakers would tie the summer league record of 12 straight victories, set by the 2012 and ’13 squads sent by Golden State, which included guys named Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Beautiful play by Josh Hart to save the steal and finish strong in transition #LakeShow (: @SpectrumSN & ESPN) pic.twitter.com/0DIE47EV9s — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 15, 2018 3) Sexton is the one to watch With LeBron James choosing to join the Lakers, Cleveland now enters a rebuilding era, which will be led by eighth-overall pick Collin Sexton. The 19-year-old has already been the Cavs’ No. 1 option at summer league, averaging 18.3 points and 3.7 assists, both of which are best on the squad. While Sexton doesn’t shoot much from the outside, he is one of the best slashers here in Vegas, using his elite quickness and aggressiveness in the paint to get buckets. There is zero reason for the Lakers to think Sexton can’t take over this game. After all, this is the same guy that dropped 40 points in college despite having to play a quarter of the game 3-on-5 when ejections and injury left him with only two other teammates. Tip-Off: 5:30 p.m. PT TV: Spectrum SportsNet in L.A. ESPN 2 nationally Location: Thomas & Mack Center — Las Vegas, Nevada<doc-sep>Josh Hart scored 37 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 112-109 double-overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday in the semifinals of the NBA Summer League. The Lakers advanced to the championship game for a second straight year after winning the 2017 title behind game MVP Kyle Kuzma and league MVP Lonzo Ball. The Lakers will play the winner of the second semifinal between Portland and Memphis. Xavier Rathan-Mayes made the play of the game when he snatched a loose ball and fed Jeff Ayres with a pretty touch pass under the basket with 45 seconds left in the second overtime. Rathan-Mayes followed Ayres’ layin with a slashing layup to put the Lakers up 110-106 with 22 seconds left. Advertisement Cleveland’s Billy Preston missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. Svi Mykhailiuk scored 31 points for the Lakers (6-0), while Ayres added 20. Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers with 27 points, while Jamel Artis and John Holland each scored 17. With the Lakers trailing 105-102 in the first overtime after Sexton made a short jumper, Rathan-Mayes buried a three-pointer to tie the score. Hart made it 106-105 by hitting the second of two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining. Sexton did the same at the other end, splitting two free throws and tying it at 106 with 3.3 seconds left. The Cavaliers (5-2) erased an early 11-point deficit and tied the score at 95, when Vladimir Brodziansky buried a three-pointer with 2:00 left in regulation. After Mykhailiuk made one of two free throws to give the Lakers a 96-95 lead with a little more than a minute left, Hart grabbed a defensive rebound and at the other end dished to Mykhailiuk, who hit a running jumper just above the free-throw line to push the lead to 98-95. But Sexton answered with a three-pointer to tie the score with 26 seconds left. Hart missed a three-pointer with 3.0 seconds left, and Sexton missed one from long range at the buzzer. The Lakers went on an 18-2 run to take a 28-17 lead led by Mykhailiuk, who was four for four from long-range in the first quarter. The Lakers shot 50%t (nine for 18) in the opening period and was five for nine (55%) from beyond the three-point line. Advertisement Hart took over in the second quarter, scoring 10 of his 14 first-half points to help the Lakers take a 50-47 lead at halftime.<doc-sep>Ethan Miller/Getty Images LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers this offseason to join the Los Angeles Lakers, but it was all love between the four-time MVP and Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue when they ran into each other Sunday in Las Vegas. James watched the Lakers defeat the Detroit Pistons at summer league right before Lue's Cavaliers handed the Toronto Raptors a loss, and there was a courtside reunion in between games. Gilbert Manzano of the Las Vegas Review Journal shared the initial embrace, while Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated passed along photos of the exchange: Lue coached James on the Cavaliers the last three years. They reached the NBA Finals all three times and won the championship in 2016 after overcoming a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors. Andrew Joseph of USA Today noted James didn't stay to watch the Cavaliers, although they will face his Lakers in the semifinals Monday. There will be an additional layer of intrigue if the King attends the contest between his old and new teams.<doc-sep>
We were all Svitnesses as Svi Mykhailiuk and Josh Hart were once again the two best players on the court as they dealt the Cleveland Cavaliers their biggest lost since July 1, beating the Cavs 111-109 in overtime in the Las Vegas Summer League semifinals to advance to Tuesday’s championship contest. Mykhailiuk came out firing, hitting on his first five shots before finally missing a layup just to let everyone else feel better about themselves. What a dude. He finished with 31 points on 12-20 shooting and 6-11 from three to go with 4 rebounds. According to Chauncey Billups and Mark Jones, who were calling the game for ESPN, Miles Simon has been getting requests from Hart to guard the other team’s best player each night. Hart’s matchup Monday evening was No. 8 overall pick Collin Sexton, who led the way for Cleveland with 27 points on 9-22 shooting and 2 assists to 4 turnovers. It was a tough matchup given Sexton’s speed and position, but it’s still great to see Hart take up the challenge on the night-by-night basis the way he has. Hart finished with 37 points on 13-28 shooting and 6-15 from three and 7 boards. The Lakers built an early double-digit lead but Cleveland fought their way back into it to force overtime. The first overtime saw neither team give any quarter, with Hart and Sexton both going 1-2 at the free-throw line in the closing seconds to leave the game tied and force a second overtime. But even amidst all the notable performances from Lakers fan favorites, it was Xavier Rathan-Mayes — who was forced into the starting lineup in Alex Caruso’s place as the latter dealt with some sort of illness that kept him from playing Monday night — who ended up being the hero of the game. The team missed Caruso’s ability to set up the offense and communicate on defense, but Rathan-Mayes played about as well as you would expect given the circumstances, and shined when it mattered most. He finished with 12 points on 5-11 shooting and 9 assists to 2 turnovers, including two of the game’s biggest plays: a tip pass assist to get the Lakers the lead and a layup to helped seal the deal in double overtime. With the late win in hand, Los Angeles will continue their title defense when they face the winner of Memphis and Portland in the Las Vegas Summer League championship Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.