Wrap-Up – In mid-January, the struggling Cavaliers needed two of their stars combining for 69 points, a hack-a-Jordan strategy and 48 minutes of hand-to-hand combat to take down the Clippers. On Thursday night, it seemed like all the red-hot Wine and Gold had to do was take the floor -- knocking L.A. out in three quarters and coasting to the 105-94, running their win streak to an even dozen.
All five Cavalier starters tallied double-figures in a game that was nowhere near as close as the final score would indicate. None of either team’s starters played in the fourth quarter after Cleveland closed the third up by 31.
Kevin Love scored 10 of his game-high 24 points in the opening quarter, going 6-for-14 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the stripe , adding nine boards and three assists. LeBron James followed up with 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go with a team-high nine assists, three boards and a steal.
J.R. Smith finished with 16 points, going 4-of-8 from long distance and adding a game-high five steals. Timofey Mozgov chipped in with 12 points and nine boards and Kyrie Irving, who didn’t hit his first field goal until late in the third quarter, pitched in with 10 points, six boards and four helpers. Tristan Thompson, the top-rebounding reserve in the NBA, barely missed a double-double off the bench with nine points, a team-high 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
The game got chippy after intermission, with the Clippers picking up four technical fouls in the third quarter alone – including the second one that got Matt Barnes tossed at the 7:17 mark. In that odd third period, Cleveland outscored L.A., 29-21 – shooting just 28 percent from the floor, but 85 percent from the stripe, where they took an incredible 20 attempts.
KLove and LBJ post near double-doubles.
View some of the best snapshots.
LeBron James throws the hammer down.
Go inside the locker room.
Watch super slow-mo game highlights from Thursday's victory.
Turning Point – The Clippers led Thursday’s nationally-televised heavyweight matchup for exactly 17 seconds, taking a 2-0 lead on Jamal Crawford’s jumper to start the game. It was all Wine and Gold after that. Cleveland led by 10 after one quarter, by 23 after two and 31 after three. L.A.’s reserves outscored the Cavs’, 31-11, in the fourth quarter, but by then the game was well in-hand for the home team.
By the Numbers – 17-3 … Cavaliers’ record against the Clippers all-time at Quicken Loans Arena. The Wine and Gold have now won 12 of the last 13 games against them at The Q and are 14-4 (in either arena) since the start of the 2005-06 season. The Cavs have now beaten eight straight Western Conference opponents and, on the season, are a perfect 15-0 when they top the century mark at home.
Quotable – LeBron James, on what’s clicking for the Cavaliers right now …
”Defensively, we’re very, very good right now. We understand what we want to do, what we want to accomplish every night on the floor. When you have that type of mind frame and guys know where guys need to be and guys trust the guys behind them, it definitely helps.”
Up Next –Right after Thursday’s lopsided win over the Clippers, the Cavaliers head directly to the Hoosier state for the first meeting of the year against the Pacers – looking to tie the franchise record 13-game win streak. On Sunday, the Wine and Gold return for a matinee matchup, trying to sweep the L.A. teams for the year when they welcome the Lakers to The Q. Cleveland gets a couple nights off before a back-to-back leading into All-Star Weekend. On Wednesday night, the Cavaliers will try to get a bit of revenge against a Miami Heat team that topped them on South Beach at Christmas. On Thursday night, it’s a huge Central Division matchup as the Cavs travel to the Windy City trying to make it three straight this season against the Bulls.