INGLEWOOD — The Clippers tried to approach Tuesday night’s game as just another one on their schedule, just another opponent, just another day in a long season.
But as the minutes went by, it became increasingly obvious that this was not just another team standing across from them at Intuit Dome. These were the Cleveland Cavaliers, the squad with the league’s best record, the one with three All-Stars, just 11 losses and legitimate NBA championship aspirations.
But the Clippers didn’t flinch, shaking off an early 12-point deficit to beat the Cavs, 132-119, in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
“They’ve answered the bell at every chance they’ve had to, and they don’t have very many chinks in their armor,” Clippers assistant coach Brian Shaw said of the Cavs before the game. “But any team can beat anyone on any given night and obviously for us, if we want a chance to win, we have to do all the little things.
“When you’re playing a team like them, who have the record that they have, you can’t beat yourself. So, we have to be on point tonight if we expect to win.”
The victory could be viewed as a statement game for the Clippers, who are looking to move up the standings with less than a month left in the regular season. But the players didn’t make a big deal over beating the team with the league’s best record.
“We’re just trying to get wins and win as many as we can,” center Ivica Zubac said. “We think we can play against anyone when we’re at our best and I think we showed good tonight. That’s the best team in the league right there, best record in the league, and we had a great second half playing good defense.”
Two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard said there is a sense of urgency in their locker room right now.
“We need these wins coming down this stretch right now and it’s giving (us) a playoff atmosphere, especially with the crowd being engaged the whole time,” Leonard said. “Thanks to the fans showing up tonight.”
The Clippers were on point and more. They pushed the Cavaliers (56-12) throughout before using a 20-3 run over the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth to take control and held on to extend their modest winning streak to four games.
It was one of those nights when everyone chipped in, starting with Leonard, who had another strong outing.
Leonard scored a game-high 33 points, shooting 12 for 19 from the field (5 for 6 from 3-point range), to go with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in 36 minutes to pace the Clippers (39-30).
Leonard, who missed the season’s first 34 games because of knee issues, said he isn’t trying to do anything special when he’s on the court.
“Whatever I need to do to win that night, that’s what I’m going to do,” Leonard said. “It’s not for me to just come out here and try to prove a point to get to the best possible me. Like I said before, guys played half of the season, and they deserve what they’re doing and I’m here to try to help.”
Zubac celebrated his 28th birthday by posting his 46th double-double of the season (28 points, 20 rebounds). James Harden finished with 22 points and nine assists, and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 20 points on 8-for-8 shooting (4 for 4 from behind the arc) and seven assists.
“It was great to see Kawhi having that pop in his step tonight and Zu just being dominant the way he has been all season long,” Shaw said. “Some of the other guys that started didn’t get to play as much tonight, but that’s the way it’s going to go. It’s going to be different guys, different nights and we just need each other pulling for each other and pulling in the same direction.”
The Clippers have won seven of their past eight games with 13 left as they try to finish in the top six in the Western Conference and avoid the Play-In Tournament (seeds 7-10).
With the score tied at 102-all, the Clippers outscored Cleveland 13-2 to take their largest lead of the game 115-103 on a pull-up jumper by Bogdanovic with 9:12 left to play.
“They came out just blazing hot in the first half hitting everything, but we withstood their runs,” Shaw said. “We came back and hit ’em with runs of our own and the good thing was it was nice to see when different guys got going at different times. Nobody tried to hijack the game, they just kept feeding whoever was hot.”
“That’s the way we’re going to need to play if we want to be successful.”
The Clippers showed they are not far from the best teams when they have a healthy roster and play with a purpose. Only Jordan Miller (hamstring) was out.
Coach Tyronn Lue was out again, missing his fourth game in the past few weeks after his back pain intensified throughout the day, forcing him to stay home. Lue had missed previous games because of his back – against the Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat before returning to the bench on the road against the Atlanta Hawks last Friday.
Shaw coached the Clippers to a 2-1 record in those games with input from Lue via text messages and phone calls. Lue no doubt was on the phone again Tuesday in the fourth quarter when the Cavs pulled within 119-113 with 5:11 remaining.
As it turned out, Shaw didn’t need the long-distance coaching tips as the Clippers held firm to hand the Cavaliers their second consecutive loss after they had won 16 straight.
The Clippers managed to keep the Cavs off balance with relentless pressure inside for much of the game, but Cleveland still found the basket. Max Strus scored a season-high 24 points, Donovan Mitchell had 18 points and 11 assists and Evan Mobley scored 17 points in his return from a one-game absence with a foot contusion.
Darius Garland and De’Andre Hunter added 17 points each for the Cavs, who saw their NBA-best road record drop to 26-7.
The Clippers controlled the boards, 49-29, and the Cavs shot 17 for 26 from the free-throw line, many of those misses coming while shooting in front of “The Wall” portion of the stands during the second half.
The Clippers, seeing their chances slipping away early, went to the 3-point line to get back into the game in the first half.
Trailing by eight after the first quarter, they drilled four 3-pointers – two by Leonard – in the first three minutes of the second to take a 52-51 lead at the 9:20 mark.
Their advantage was brief as the Cavs came back with a pair of long-range shots by Strus and Garland to rebuild a 63-57 lead with 5:17 left before halftime. The Clippers made another to trim the lead to four, but it was as close as they could get in the first half as the Cavs led 73-68 at the half.
“Now we have 13 games left and we are just trying to get better every single game you know, offensively, defensively, communication on the floor and not waste our time on the floor,” Bogdanovic said. “I’m just happy that everybody contributed in their roles tonight.”
The Clippers host Memphis on Friday night.
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