The test for the Clippers came from the team many consider the best in the NBA, the team many consider a title contender, the team with the best record in the league, three All-Stars and an All-Star coach.
The test for the Clippers came from the team that’s second in scoring (122.5 points), second in field-goal percentage (49.2), first in three-point shooting percentage (38.8) and has seven players averaging double-digit points.
That’s what the Clippers were up against when they faced the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Intuit Dome on Tuesday night, and they had to do it without coach Tyronn Lue, who missed the game because of recurring back pain.
The Clippers passed that test, proving during a 132-119 win that this tough, gritty team can play with and beat the best.
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 on 12-for-18 shooting, including 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.
The Clippers struggled to contain the Cavaliers in the first half, giving up 73 points on 56.5% shooting including 50% from three-point range. The Clippers stayed close because their offense was on point, leaving them down by just five points after the first 24 minutes.
Clippers assistant 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 best backcourts in All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and have All-Star forward Evan Mobley and All-Star coach Kenny Atkinson.
“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 (39-30) still are the eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference, 1½ games behind the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors and one game behind the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
Lue has missed four of the last six games because of back issues. He last coached Sunday against Charlotte and was in pain during the game.
“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.”
The Clippers also didn’t have assistant Jeff Van Gundy, who is in charge of directing the team’s defense and missed the game because of an unspecified family matter.
