The test for the Clippers would come from the team many consider the best in the NBA, from the team many consider title contenders, from the team with the best record in the league, from the team with three All-Stars and an All-Star coach.
The test for the Clippers would come from a team that’s second in the league in scoring (122.5 points per game), second in field-goal percentage (49.2), first in three-point shooting percentage (38.8) and has seven players averaging double figures.
That’s what the Clippers were up against when they faced the Cleveland Cavaliers at Intuit Dome on Tuesday night, and they had to do it without head coach Tyronn Lue, who missed the game because of recurring back pain.
The Clippers passed that test, proving during a 132-119 win over the Cavaliers that this tough, gritty team can play with and beat the best the league has to offer.
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They won their fourth straight game behind the strength from Ivica Zubac’s powerful double-double of 29 points and 20 rebounds on his 28th birthday.
They won it behind Kawhi Leonard’s efficient 33 points that saw him go 12-for-18 from the field and five-for-six from three-point range.
They won it behind James Harden’s 22 points and nine assists, Bogdan Bodanovic’s 20 points and seven assists and Derrick Jones Jr.’s 10 points.
And they won it behind a defense that became stingy in the second half, during which the Clippers held the high-scoring Cavaliers to 46 points.
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The Clippers struggled to contain the Cavs in the first half, giving up 73 points on 56.5% shooting and 50% shooting from three-point range. They stayed close because their offense was on point, leaving them down by just five points after the first 24 minutes.
Clippers assistant coach Brian Shaw, who took over for Lue in his absence, said this was the kind of game that should get his group’s “juices flowing a little bit more.” Cleveland entered the game with an NBA-best 56-11 record.
The Cavaliers have one of the league’s best backcourts in All-Stars Danovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and they have All-Star forward Evan Mobley, all of whom are coached by All-Star coach Kenny Atkins.
“We haven’t seen this team at all this year so it’ll be a good test for us to see where we really are,” Shaw said before tipoff. “But I don’t want to make it any more than what it is. It is another game. We know where we are in the standings and how important that is. But we just want to continue to do the things that we do.”
The Clippers still are the eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference, 1.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Warriors and one game behind the seventh-seeded Timberwolves.
Etc.
Lue has missed four of the last six games with back issues. He last coached Sunday against Charlotte and was in pain during the contest.
“Daily we get updates, but his back issues intensified again,” Shaw said. “He was getting better. I think last game he was on the bench with a hot pad on his shoulder most of the game. So, we’re all just hoping and praying that whatever it is, they can get to the bottom of it and he’ll be back to be at the helm.”
The Clippers also didn’t have assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy, who is in charge of directing the team’s defense and missed the game because of an unspecified family matter.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
