The Cleveland Cavaliers had an opportunity to face off against one of the best teams in the west in the Los Angeles Clippers, and showed why they belong atop the east. Here’s a look back as the Cavs take down the Clippers.
The Cavaliers went with a starting lineup of Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, Jarrett Allen and a returning Evan Mobley.
Mitchell, leading the team in scoring, finished with 28 points, four rebounds, 12 assists and two steals while shooting 52.4 percent from the field. He did struggle from deep, hitting only two of 10 three point attempts. Despite this he was one of the major factors in the Cleveland victory.
Allen also had an outstanding night, finishing with 20 points, 17 rebounds, three assists with a block and a steal. This was his fifteenth consecutive double-double.
Okoro finished with 17 points, one rebound, three assists and a steal. He played a big role in containing the firepower of these Clippers. He spent a lot of time (successfully) guarding their best players.
Mobley, in his limited 20 minutes, came close to giving the Cavaliers a double-double hat trick. He finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and a steal. Aside from showing the surgery didn’t affect his efficiency, he continues to display a veteran mindset when it comes to using his size and agility.
Strus, Georges Niang and Caris LeVert (14, 10 and 13 points respectively) each also played with a high level of energy that fueled the Cavs in this win and peppered their stats sheets with positive marks.
Despite Kawai Leonard’s 30 point, eight rebound and three assists performance, the Cavs did a good job of locking down the Clippers. Los Angeles’s next highest scorer was Norman Powell, who finished with 18 points. Paul George finished with 13 points, Russell Westbrook finished with 13 points, and James Harden finished with 11 points. Although Harden did have an overall strong performance with 10 assists and seven rebounds. However, it’s not a strong team performance when two of the three players in one of the NBA’s best trios (24 combined points) are outscored by the opposing team’s bench (29 combined points). Suffice to say the Clippers bench, outside of Leonard, was their main producer of points with a combined 44.
The first quarter ended with each team having made 10 of 22 shots from the field, yet the Cavaliers were up 25-28. This felt like a good encapsulation of the game as a whole. Although it was extremely hard fought on both ends, Cleveland seemed to get the edge.
On the offensive end everyone contributed. The Cavs had seven players finish with double digit points. On the defensive end they locked down one of the best trios, and one of the best overall rosters in the league.
The Clips looked like they were gaining momentum towards the end, and the Cavs did an excellent job of forcing turnovers and capitalizing on every opportunity to put the game away. That’s the mark of a successful postseason team.
The Cavs play next on Wednesday night (January 31) at 7:00 PM, when they’ll host the Detroit Pistons.
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Featured photo courtesy of NBA.com
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