Neither team boasted of shooting effectiveness: the Cavaliers scored just 3 of their 20 3-pointers
The Cleveland Cavaliers of a remarkable Ricky Rubio they defeated this Wednesday at home Los Angeles Clippers (79-92), in a rough match marked by the errors and inaccuracies.
On an encounter with very little brightness, the Spanish point guard achieved 15 points (6 of 13 in shots), 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and knew how to control the rhythm of the game in the last quarter.
Collin Sexton (26 points and 7 rebounds) and Darius Garland (16 points and 6 assists) were the top scorers for some Cavaliers who have three victories in a row (3-2) and who this Friday will try to take advantage of the bad start of Los angeles lakers (2-3).
For their part, the Clippers (1-3) offered a very disappointing performance for a team that last season reached the final of the season. Western Conference.
Without the long-term injured Kawhi Leonard and without a Serge Ibaka who is close to reappearing, the Clippers had in Nico Batum and Reggie Jackson to his offensive beacons with 16 points each.
Paul George he had 12 points and 10 rebounds but had an unfortunate evening shooting (6 of 20 shooting, 0 of 8 3-pointers).
Neither team boasted of shooting effectiveness: the Cavaliers made just 3 of their 20 3-pointers and the Clippers fell for a meager 35.6% of total shots.
Gruesome start
At first for a museum of horrors, both the Cavaliers and Clippers seemed to have bet which of the two he could make more mistakes.
It was really contested, since in the first minutes the shots that did not touch the rim, the clamorous errors under the basket and the lost balls accumulated in the middle of a general feeling that nobody knew very well what he had to do.
That succession of inaccuracies materialized in a 6-7 for the Cavaliers with 6.57 on the clock and an eloquent 5 of 17 in shots and 0 of 7 in triples between both teams.
Ricky Rubio He jumped onto the court with 5.39 left, but could do nothing to alter the bland rhythm of the game.
However, the Cavaliers were slightly activated with the forcefulness of Evan Mobley in the inside game and with the outside threat and the counterattack of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland to end the first quarter ahead (14-23).
The wreck of the Clippers had been total: 4 of 21 in shots, 1 of 11 in triples and 8 turnovers in just twelve minutes.
Sexton continued his business, including a splendid mate on Nico Batum, and the visitors exceeded 10 points of advantage.
In the disoriented Los Angeles set, alone Ivica Zubac, Eric Bledsoe and Luke Kennard they showed signs of life (23-38 in the absence of 6.54)
Rubio returned to the court with one more point of aggressiveness. He put a basket to hoop past the house brand and gave a alley-oop a Kevin Love, The Spaniard’s companion in his first spell with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
An example of how bad things were going for the Clippers was that Paul George he got his first points with 5.04 left by the break.
But after several errors by the Cavaliers in the last two minutes, Batum and George managed to leave the game quite tight at halftime (40-47).
No news of a comeback
The elusive Sexton and Garland kept hitting the passive home defense, but the Clippers finally found something to hold onto in attack.
It was Batum who took that step forward and who, with 8 points in less than five minutes, forced the Cavaliers to time out with doubts (53-56 with 7.21 remaining).
Rubio entered to calm the spirits, hit a basket on his first play of the second half, and facilitated a 0-7 run for Cleveland.
But Reggie Jackson he stretched out on the Clippers and hit two 3-pointers to add excitement to the game (62-65 with 3.24 to be played).
In the final stretch, the success of the free throws and the effort of a fighter Kevin Love gave the Cavaliers a margin before the final quarter (64-72).
Rubio faced the last twelve minutes with great enthusiasm and scored 6 points in a row (68-78 with 10.25 to be played).
The Spaniard took the helm, lowered the pulse of the encounter even more and began to supply Mobley and Sexton.
The Clippers were bleeding again from turnovers while the Cavaliers, with surprising calm for such a young team, they put cruising speed towards victory (72-86 with 4.04 on the clock).
With no news of any Clippers candidate to be the hero of a comeback, the Cavaliers closed the win with a dunk from Mobley. (D)
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