Cleveland Cavaliers • Los Angeles Clippers • NBA Clippers vs. Cavaliers
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue returned to Los Angeles on Monday to win, not to show off his team’s past glory. That’s what he got, not the first.
A year after he was fired from his position as head coach of the 2016 NBA champions, Lue has only been recognised for his work as an assistant coach and last year in front of a pandemic-restricted audience. Lue said before the game that he hadn’t thought about how he might be received on Monday in front of a nearly full Rocket Mortgage Field House. Because of the Clippers’ two starters resting on the second night of consecutive games, he was probably preoccupied with how the team would score in the second half.
Cleveland Cavaliers
However, when his time came in the first half, and the Cavaliers played a lengthy video praising their championship team, the coach didn’t turn his back. Cavaliers forward Kevin Love hugged Lue when his face appeared on the jumbotron.
After that, things got back to business, with the coach doing exactly what Cavaliers fans had applauded him for doing before — using every trick in the book to try to win.
Clippers vs. Cavaliers
The Clippers trailed by just one with 2:26 left in overtime after Nicolas Batum’s three-pointer, but fatigue set in and they lost 120-111 to end their three-game road trip despite forward Marcus Morris Sr. and point guard Reggie Jackson resting one night after combining for 46 points in Detroit. Robert Covington also missed the game for the fifth time in as many games due to personal reasons.
Clippers made half of their shots before halftime despite only having nine players available and completing a five-game in seven-day stretch — the fifth time this season they’ve done so — just one day after missing their first 11 in Detroit. The Clippers have been begging for this kind of ball movement on nights when their offence has slowed down. They assisted on 16 of their first 17 baskets. They had 29 assists on 43 baskets in the final round of play.
To keep the Clippers within one, Zubac assisted on Batum’s three-pointer in the final seconds, after playing 36 minutes Friday in Atlanta and 30 minutes Sunday in Detroit. He was out in a hurry.
The Clippers (36-35) trailed by seven points in the third quarter and were down by six going into the fourth when Lue signalled again that he wasn’t going to give up the game by bringing back Luke Kennard and Ivica Zubac to the lineup with 7:30 left. Mann’s first three-pointer of the game with three minutes to go gave the game a 100-100 tie. Mann sank a three-pointer with 1:44 remaining to snatch a 103-103 draw for the Wolves.
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