For all the talk about Monday's event at Staples Center being a potential Finals matchup or a Kobe Bryant-vs.-LeBron James showdown, it was really just a referendum on where the Cavs really stand without two starters. The answer is pretty short as the Lakers' giants swatted down the Cavs, 105-88.

In general, the Cavs like to play with smaller lineups. Without Zydrunas Ilgauskas, that is a must. It doesn't work so well against a team that starts two 7-footers, a 6-10 small forward and whose first two subs off the bench are 6-10 and 6-8. Heck, for stretches, the smallest Laker on the court was Bryant at 6-6.

That difference showed up everywhere as the Lakers (32-8) provided a reminder of why it's a big man's game and why it was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Cavs (31-8).

Bryant and James spent a lot of time guarding one another, and Bryant got a few baskets on James in the fourth quarter as he finished with 20 points. Mostly he let his big men do the work as he piled up 12 assists.

James didn't have much space to answer with all the trees around the basket and settled for a jump-shot-filled, subpar game, scoring 23 points on 9-of-25 shooting. When James went to the basket, there was nothing he could do as the Lakers' bigs stood in the paint unafraid of retribution.

But the real drama in the trenches was from the Lakers' Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, who bruised the Cavs throughout the evening. Gasol routinely had a large height advantage over the man bodying him, be it Ben Wallace, Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hickson or Lorenzen Wright.

It is why the long-armed Spaniard dominated, making 11-of-13 shots for 22 points with 12 rebounds.

If not Gasol, it was Bynum, who oftentimes seemed to score effortlessly after receiving the ball in the post, and he ended up with 14 points and six rebounds. Then there was Odom, who was always on the court when either of the 7-footers were resting, and he collected eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Cavs' big men were left to attempt to take charges to slap at the ball before it got up, because usually once it did, it was over.

So it was easy to see why the Cavs lost in the rebounding department and were equally eaten up on second-chance points and points in the paint as well.

Toss on that several Lakers were also hitting their outside shots, namely Derek Fisher and Sasha Vujacic, and the way the game went down was pretty explainable. The Lakers also tore up the Cavs' defense, which just couldn't bring enough help, for 52 percent shooting - a season worst for the Cavs.

It was a remarkable feat the Cavs were able to hold a halftime lead, mostly because of 11 Lakers turnovers. But that ended quickly when the Lakers opened the second half by making 10-of-15 shots and built their lead.

One bright spot for the Cavs was another solid game from Sasha Pavlovic, who had 12 points and held his own on Bryant. Varejao also broke out of his slump with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bwindhorst@plaind.com, 216-999-5166