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Daily Dime: King vs. Kobe

By J.A. Adande
ESPN.com

Monday, January 19, 2009

LOS ANGELES -- "Who did daddy play tonight?" LeBron James asked LeBron Jr. as they stood in a Staples Center hallway. "The Lakers," the younger LeBron said. That wasn't the answer LeBron was looking for. "Who plays for the other team?" he pressed. "Kobe," his son responded. LeBron Jr. had it right the first time. This wasn't about the marquee matchup (As if to emphasize the hype heading in, two hours before the Lakers played the Cavaliers the whiteboard used to display scouting report in the visitor's locker room had only two numbers: 23 and 24). Cleveland wasn't KO'd by Kobe Bryant. It was about the Lakers' size and depth and a stronger-than-usual commitment to defense overwhelming an injury-depleted Cavaliers squad for a 105-88 victory that was more about the practical matter of home-court advantage than an accurate forecast of an NBA Finals matchup.

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