CLEVELAND — For the last two decades, there have only been truly two incarnations of the Cleveland Cavaliers: the team with LeBron James, and the team without.

With James, the franchise has seen its greatest heights, including a 2016 title that the city still treasures. Without James, the Cavaliers have succumbed to the city’s overall history of futility, and James has rubbed it in by winning almost every time he marches in with a visiting team.

But after 20 years, a new era of hope might be emerging for Cavaliers basketball even without their homegrown star. And unfortunately for James, the Lakers experienced the rising tide firsthand in a 116-102 loss on Tuesday night.

Offseason trade acquisition Donovan Mitchell dazzled with 43 points and five assists, zig-zagging his way past a Laker defense that was forced to play without star big man Anthony Davis, who left after eight minutes with flu-like symptoms. There were times when Mitchell even left James in the dust, particularly on a first-quarter spin move that ended in a lob to Jarrett Allen (24 points, 11 rebounds).

Mitchell turned it on late against the overmatched Lakers, scoring 29 points in the second half. From a 92-all deadlock, the Cavaliers (169) went on a 21-6 run that turned a tight contest into a laugher. The Lakers (10-13) only shot 42.7 % in the game without Davis, who scored 55 points on Sunday in Washington, and they were a dismal 6 for 36 from 3-point range.

James lost his first game in Cleveland since signing with the Lakers in 2018, dropping his overall record to 17-3 against the team where he played 11 of his 20 NBA seasons. James’ 21 points was tied for the second-lowest scoring performance he’s ever had against the Cavaliers – they are the opponent against whom he enjoys his highest career scoring average (29.4 ppg). He muscled through it, adding 17 rebounds to compensate for Davis’ absence.

Most telling of all: James’ return visit to his hometown franchise usually defines the evening for better or for worse. But while the Cavaliers played a clip of his famous NBA Finals chasedown block on the jumbotron and James waved to hearty applause, the Cleveland crowd got even louder as the night went on for Mitchell (17 for 27 from the field, 4 for 8 from behind the arc). By the end of it, they serenaded the guard with chants of “M-V-P,” the very chorus once reserved for James.