After the beating the Cleveland Cavaliers took on Monday night from the Golden State Warriors, they bounced back for a second straight win as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers 115-102 at home.
Clippers Start Strong; Cavs Finish Half Even Stronger
It was a good first quarter for the Clippers as they led 31-28 after the first twelve minutes. Their first basket was a lob from Chris Paul to DeAndre Jordan and it was a sign of things to come in the first quarter. The good karma continued to end the quarter as Jamal Crawford would knock down a buzzer-beater. Paul had a splendid first quarter has he scored 12 points and four assists.
The strong start continued into the second quarter as the Clippers second unit had a 7-0 run to start the second quarter. The Clippers backups took advantage of a poor couple of minutes by Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert. Things got worse when Chris Paul dropped Matthew Dellavedova with a sick crossover. But the Cavaliers bounced back, however, and LeBron James took over. Before you knew it, it was a 59-50 lead for the Cavaliers. Cleveland scored 31 points in the quarter.
Big Three Help Cleveland Pull Away In Second Half
The second half saw the Cavaliers continue the run they had in the second quarter. LeBron, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love all exploded in the second half and ended with some solid scorelines.
The Clippers had no answer in the second half except for Paul and J.J. Redick. Paul ended the game with 30 points while Redick continued his good run with a 17 point game and shot 50 percent from the field. But sadly they were the only Clippers up to the task offensively, as they shot 45 percent from the field and a woeful 24 percent from deep.
The Cavs made a run at the end of the third quarter and it all but sealed the game for Cleveland. The Clippers ended up taking out their starters with a few minutes left in the game and Cleveland leading, 110-94. The game ended and the Cavaliers would win by the final score of 115-102, picking up their 30th win of the season.
The win keeps Cleveland at the top of the Eastern Conference standings as they look to be the #1 seed come playoff time.
Top Performers
LeBron James led the Cavaliers in scoring with 22 points while adding 12 assists and five rebounds. Kyrie Irving had 21 points and Kevin Love had a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds. J.R. Smith was cooking from deep as he nailed six three-pointers and finished with 22 points.
Chris Paul led the way for the Clippers with a 30 point and nine assist outing. DeAndre Jordan finished with a double-double of 10 points an 13 rebounds, while Jamal Crawford came off the bench and scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
What's Next?
The Cavaliers will host the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night in primetime. The Clippers will head to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks Friday night.