Clippers feel out of place at home again, losing to Cavaliers, 114-90
Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) fight for a rebound in the second quarter.
A soundtrack of Clippers home games this season wouldn’t be complete without some audible unease.
It was perceptible throughout the second half Sunday at Staples Center, the only sustained cheers generated by fans swathed in the wine and gold of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Clippers looked lost and listless for most of a 114-90 defeat that did not qualify as an anomaly on their home court. Their 12 home losses are one more than they have suffered on the road.
“I don’t know the answer,” Clippers point guard Chris Paul said, “but shoot, we need to move some of our home games on the road.”
Clippers reserve guard Austin Rivers called the team’s most lopsided defeat of the season “embarrassing,” and that was probably a more polite word than those that flew around in a locker room that had been unusually loud before reporters entered.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers joked before the game about the potentially detrimental effects of the L.A. night life on the Cavaliers, who had been in town since early Thursday morning, but it was the Clippers who were a step slow and out of rhythm.
A 10-point lead in the first quarter sparked by Clippers guard J.J. Redick’s making his first four shots quickly vanished amid crisp ball movement by the Cavaliers that led to open look after open look.
LeBron James, J.R. Smith and Channing Frye made the most of them for the Cavaliers, who buried 18 of 37 three-pointers (48.6%). Cleveland outscored the Clippers, 37-22, in the second quarter and was never threatened thereafter.
“We started off the game with a great pace and a great spirit,” Doc Rivers said, “but we lost our pace because they were scoring every time and we could never get our pace back.”
James scored 27 points on nine-for-15 shooting, weaving through the Clippers defense as if it was merely a set of traffic cones. He glared at courtside fans after throwing down a third-quarter dunk on which he was fouled.
Austin Rivers said the ease with which the Cavaliers scored could necessitate a new defensive approach.
“We might have to put someone on the floor a couple of times,” Rivers said. “They’re driving to the basket like nothing’s going to happen.”
Kyrie Irving and Smith each scored 17 points and Frye, a player the Clippers considered trading for last month before the Cavaliers acquired him from Orlando, had 15 after making five of seven three-pointers.
Jeff Green, whom the Clippers acquired before the trade deadline, continued his stretch of up-and-down play with a clunker, making two of 10 shots and finishing with seven points. Green was the only Clippers starter to play in the fourth quarter with the outcome having long been decided.
The Cavaliers built leads as large as 26 points, making it a relatively stress-free afternoon for former Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue in his first game coaching against Rivers, his longtime mentor.
Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute did not have a memorable return from the lacerated left eyelid that had sidelined him the previous five games, scoring two points and struggling at times to stay in front of James. He wasn’t alone.
With or without Blake Griffin, who missed his 35th consecutive game because of a quadriceps injury and a broken hand, the Clippers don’t seem to match up well with the Cavaliers. They have lost all four meetings between the teams since James returned to Cleveland in the summer of 2014.
“They’re looking at us right now saying, ‘Please make it to the Finals’ because they’re comfortable against us,” Doc Rivers said. “And we would say, ‘We would love to meet you there.’ ”
The Clippers would need to make home more of a haven before thinking about winning multiple playoff rounds. They’ve actually compiled a slightly better record at home (22-12) than on the road (20-11) percentage-wise, but they’re hardly instilling fear into visiting teams. They have lost home games to Denver, Minnesota, Utah and Sacramento, all of whom have losing records.
“We’re not a very good home team,” said Redick, who cooled considerably after his hot start and finished with 19 points. “It’s very frustrating. It seems like you have to put so much into winning on the road and playing well on the road and we’re just not putting that same amount into a home game.”
Twitter: @latbbolch
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