The test for the Mower came from the team that many consider the Best in the NBAThe team much considers a contender for the title, the team with the best record in the League, three All-Stars and a stars coach.
The clippers test came from the team that is second in score (122.5 points), second as a percentage of goals on the field (49.2), first as a three -point shooting percentage (38.8) and has seven players on average two -digit.
This is what the Clippers were against when they faced the Cleveland riders in Intuit Dome on Tuesday evening, and they had to do it without coach Tyronn Lue, who missed the match due to recurring back pain.
The mowers successfully passed this test, proving during a 132-119 Victory That this difficult and grainy team can play with and beat the best.
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They won their fourth consecutive match behind the strength of Ivica Zubac Powerful double-double of 29 points and 20 rebounds at its 28th birthday.
They won him behind Kawhi Leonard 33 effective points on shooting 12 for 18, including five for six of the three -point beach.
They won him behind James Harden 22 points and nine assists, 20 points from Bogdan Bodanovic and seven assists and 10 points by Derrick Jones Jr.
And they won him behind a defense which became stingy in the second half, during which the Clippers held the riders at score raised at 46 points.
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The Clippers struggled to contain the horsemen in the first half, abandoning 73 points out of 56.5% shots, including 50% of the beach of three points. The clippers remained close because their offense was on the point, leaving them down only five points after the first 24 minutes.
Clippers’ assistant, Brian Shaw, who took over from Lue in his absence, said it was the kind of game that should cause “group juice” a little more. Cleveland entered the match with a 56-11 NBA record.
The riders have one of the best rear currents in All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and have the stars striker Evan Mobley and the stars coach Kenny Atkinson.
“We have not seen this team at all this year, so it will be a good test for us to see where we are really,” said Shaw before Tipoff. “But I don’t want to do more than it is. This is another game. We know where we are in the standings and how important it is. But we just want to keep doing the things we do.”
The Clippers (39-30) are still the eighth seeded team from the West Conference, 1½ games behind the Golden State Warriors of sixth seeded and a match behind the Timberwolves of the seventh seeded.
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Lue has missed four of the last six games due to back problems. He trained on Sunday against Charlotte and suffered during the match.
“Every day, we get updates, but his back problems intensified again,” said Shaw. “He was better. I think the last match, he was on the bench with a hot stamp on his shoulder most of the game. So we all hope that anything, they can go to the bottom and it will be back. “
The Clippers did not have the assistant Jeff Van Gundy, who is responsible for directing the team’s defense and missed the match due to an unpertified family affair.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
