(MENAFN- Kora) The Lakers triumphed due to a little-known rule in the NBA, which allowed centre Robert Sacre to stay on court after he had committed his sixth personal foul
LA entered the game in Cleveland on Wednesday with Steve Nash, Jodie Meeks, Jordan Hill, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant all unavailable due to fitness concerns
The visitors then lost Nick Young (knee) and Jordan Farmar (cramps) during the contest, while Chris Kaman fouled out, leaving LA with just five available players
When Sacre was fouled out soon after, LA were in danger of forfeiting the game as teams are not allowed to play with less than five on the court
The umpires explained to Lakers' coach Mike D'Antoni that Sacre could keep playing but the team would be given a technical foul
Then any subsequent foul against Sacre would also be judged a technical foul, meaning the Cavaliers would have received two free-throws and the ball back each time
Sacre was left on the court for the remaining three minutes and 32 seconds and the Lakers held on for an 11-point win; their first since January 19
Point guard Steve Blake was the star for LA with a triple-double (11 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists), while Ryan Kelly top-scored for the Lakers with 26 points
CJ Miles came off the bench for Cleveland to score 27 points
The top two teams in the Western Conference both won on Wednesday but in fairly different circumstances
The West's top team - the Oklahoma City Thunder - cruised past the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-97 with Kevin Durant (26 points) yet again leading the way, while the San Antonio Spurs needed double overtime to defeat the Washington Wizards 125-118
Patty Mills sank four free-throws, while Danny Green also scored four points in the second overtime period as the Spurs won their third game in a row with Tim Duncan top-scoring with 31 points
In Los Angeles, the Clippers' Blake Griffin scored 43 points and claimed 14 rebounds but it was not enough as the Miami Heat won 116-112
LeBron James (31 points, 12 assists) led the way for the visitors, as seven Heat players reached double figures for points, while the Clippers were essentially a two-man show with Jamal Crawford (31 points) supporting Griffin
The Houston Rockets cruised past the Phoenix Suns 122-108, the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the New York Knicks 94-90 and the Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 114-108
In other NBA results, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 110-100, the New Orleans Pelicans won 105-100 over the Atlanta Hawks, the Dallas Mavericks prevailed against the Memphis Grizzlies 110-96, the Sacramento Kings trumped the Toronto Raptors 109-101 and the Orlando Magic triumphed 112-98 against the Detroit Pistons
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