by The Cleveland Cavaliers (31-21) looked like a team playing with some extra fire Sunday night against the makeshift Los Angeles Clippers (28-25), winning with ease, 122-99. That might have had something to do with the Cavaliers essentially losing to the Golden State Warriors’ bench back on Jan. 20.
Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was quoted after that game saying, “We didn’t respect the game. It’s that simple. They’ve got champions over there, and we thought some of those guys were out so we were going to take it lightly and we got we deserved.”
On top of that they have dropped four of their last six, with them falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-100 on Friday.
If the Cavaliers are going to have a shot at competing in the playoffs they have to continue to learn to close out winnable games. For fans, this game could be a start to a hopeful trend that carries throughout the rest of the season. It was a mismatch from tip-off and at one point the Cavs led by as much as 40 in the third quarter.
The Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard (injury management), Paul George (knee soreness), Reggie Jackson (achilles soreness), Marcus Morris (ribs), and Robert Covington (personal reasons).
A 17-5 run in the first quarter effectively was enough to put Los Angeles away. Besides that possible nightmare with Golden State, some extra motivation could have been sourced from the last time these two met back in November.
Cleveland was rolling on an eight-game win streak and had a sizable 13-point lead in the fourth quarter. But the Cavs faltered and lost 119-117. That also began a five-game losing streak and the Clippers were on a five-game winning streak.
It is safe to say there were lots of extra incentives to get back in the win column.
Cleveland’s starters earned some extra rest jumping to a 30-point advantage at the half. Donovan Mitchell made his return to the lineup and looked solid scoring 11 points on 5-9 shooting.
The all-star starter had missed five out of the last six contests with a nagging groin injury. Darius Garland double doubled with assists again, 16 points and 10 dimes.
However, the star of the show was Cedi Osman. With the bench getting more playing time than usual, he put on a clinic from three. He finished an unblemished 7-7 from deep and 11-13 overall, totaling a career-high 29 points.
Osman further etched his name into the franchise-record books, sliding into sixth all time in made three pointers.
Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday. Cleveland takes on the Heat in another important Eastern Conference clash while the Clippers face the Bulls.
