Home, Sweet Home
After wrapping up their three-game road trip on Saturday night in Chicago, the Wine & Gold return for some well-earned home cookin’ – beginning with a Monday night matchup against the Clippers to tip off a five-game homestand.
As they try to get healthy for the season’s final push, the Cavaliers (38-29) have been trying to right the ship, having dropped seven of their last 10, including a pair of double-digit losses this weekend in Miami and Chicago. Cleveland remains just a game up on Toronto for the coveted 6th-seed in the East.
The Clippers (36-24) are also trying to reach the postseason despite a spate of injuries – including the knee injury that’s sidelined Kawhi Leonard all season the elbow injury that’s shelved Paul George since December. L.A. has dropped three of its last five outings, but got back on track on Sunday night in Detroit.
Playing again without Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert, and with Lauri Markkanen as a late scratch with a sore right ankle, the Cavaliers lost Rajon Rondo for the night after he turned his ankle following an Ayo Dosunmu close-out in the third quarter.
Darius Garland bounced back from a rough first half to lead Cleveland with 25 points – going 2-for-12 from the floor before intermission and 7-for-12 for 19 points afterward while leading the squad with seven assists.
Evan Mobley followed up with 17 points, going 8-of-17 from the floor to go with seven boards and a pair of blocks and Kevin Love, who moved into the starting lineup in the absence of Markkanen, doubled-up with 10 points and team-high 11 rebounds.
The Clippers wrap up a quick three-game road trip of their own on Monday night after evening up on Sunday in Motown – getting a game-high 31 points from Marcus Morris Sr. and a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double from Ivaca Zubac. Luke Kennard, who leads the league in three-point percentage at .458, chipped in with 16 points off the bench.
The Cavaliers close out the month of March with eight of their last 10 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse – beginning with the five-game homestand that sees them welcome the Sixers on Wednesday, followed by a weekend back-to-back against Denver and Detroit before wrapping up one week from tonight against LeBron and the Lakers.
History
These two squads have faced off already once this year, with the Wine & Gold completely stymying the Clippers offensive – holding Los Angeles to just 36 percent shooting in a wire-to-wire win. The Cavs dominated on the boards, held Paul George to 12 points and were paced by Collin Sexton, who led both teams with 26 points in the win.
While the recent trend in the series has not gone Cleveland’s way – their October 27 was just the second in the last 11 attempts – the Cavaliers lead the all-time series, 75-58, going back through the Clippers days as the Boston Braves and San Diego Clippers.
The all-time rebound leader in the series for the Cavaliers is Carlos Boozer, who snagged 21 boards against the Clippers in a 2003 loss in Los Angeles. Big Z led Cleveland with 24 points and added 16 boards. Rookie LeBron James finished with four points on 2-of-13 shooting.
The rebounding leader in the series is Swen Nater, who grabbed 26 rebounds while they were still the Buffalo Braves – topping the Cavaliers by a point despite a game-high 25 points from Campy Russell.
Connections
You’ll only need to look down the opposition’s bench tonight to notice tonight’s connections.
Head Coach Tyronn Lue was the Cavs head coach from 2016 through 2018, winning the NBA title in 2016 after taking over for David Blatt midway through the season. In this tenure with Cleveland, Lue went 128-83 in the regular season with a 41-20 mark in the Playoffs.
Larry Drew, who took over for Lue in 2018-19 as the team’s coach, is back with his longtime contemporary in L.A., as is Dahntay Jones, who helped Cleveland win that 2016 Championship and currently acts as a player development coach with the Clips.