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.
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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.
“We’re not trying to get statement wins,” Zubac said. “We’re just trying to get wins, get as many wins as we can. We can play against anyone. When we’re at our best, and I think we showed that tonight. That’s the best team in the league right there, best record in the league.”
They won it behind Kawhi Leonard’s efficient 33 points on 12-for-18 shooting, including five for six from three-point range and behind James Harden’s 22 points and nine assists that saw the Clippers win their seventh game in their past eight outings.
“Like I said before, we need these wins coming down the stretch right now,” Leonard said. “It’s giving you a playoff atmosphere, especially with the crowd being engaged the whole time.”
They won it behind strong play from their bench, getting 20 points and seven assists from Bogdan Bogdanovic and 10 points from Derrick Jones Jr.
Bogdanovic was especially effective, going eight-for-eight from the field and four-for-four from the three-point line.
“We talked about it. We had 14 games before this one, now we have 13 games left and we’re just trying to get better every single game,” Bogdanovic said. “Offensively, defensively, communication, on the floor and not waste our time on the floor with different type of lineups and different roles. I’m just happy that everybody contributed in their roles tonight.”
And they won it behind a defense that became stingy in the second half.
They had given up 73 points in the first half and watched the Cavaliers shoot 56.5% from the field and 50% from three-point range.
But the Clippers held the Cavaliers to 46 points in the last 24 minutes, including 17 in the fourth quarter.
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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.
But the Clippers put the clamps on the guard duo, holding Mitchell to 18 points on five-for-18 shooting and Garland to 17 points on six-for-14 shooting.
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.
“We kind of for the first time in a while, if not all season, we pretty much had everybody available at our disposal tonight,” said Clippers assistant coach Brian Shaw, who took the controls again with Lue out. “When we have everybody, we have depth and certain nights it’s going to be different guys. It was great to see Kawhi having that pop in his step tonight. Zu just being dominant the way he has been all season long…We just need each other pulling for each other and pulling in the same direction.”
Lue, Van Gundy out
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.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.