Cavs Close Out Homestand, Defeat Clippers 120-105

Even with a banged-up squad, the Wine & Gold closed out their longest home stand of the season in style – manhandling Ty Lue’s road-weary Clippers, 120-105, on Sunday evening at Rocket Arena. 

Donovan Mitchell continued his red-hot run, leading both teams with 37 points – his fifth 30-point game in his last six outings, going 14-for-22 from the floor, adding eight boards, six assists and a steal in the win. The league’s 6^th-ranked scorer, Mitchell has now topped the 30-point plateau 10 times in 16 appearances this season and for the 81^st time in his Cavaliers career. 

The Clippers led through almost the entire first quarter – running their advantage to eight points midway through the period. But that’s as good as it would get for L.A. Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s dunk with less than a minute to play in the quarter tied the game and Tyrese Proctor’s three-pointer gave Cleveland its first lead. The Cavaliers didn’t look back the rest of the way, taking a double-digit lead at the end of three quarters and cruising to the finish line from there. 

Evan Mobley posted his second straight double-double – seventh of the season – finishing with 18 points and a team-high 10 boards, adding two assists, two steals and a pair of blocks. Mobley has now recorded multiple rejections in eight contests so far this year. 

De’Andre Hunter chipped in with 17 points, four boards and four assists, going 5-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Over his last three games, Hunter is shooting exactly 50 percent (19-of-38) from the floor and 50 percent (12-of-24) from long-distance. 

Closing out their longest homestand of the season on Sunday, the Cavaliers were without Jarrett Allen (finger), Sam Merrill (hand), Lonzo Ball (rest) and Craig Porter Jr. (hamstring), but got solid production from their second unit 

Tyrese Proctor continued his strong rookie run – leading all reserves with 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting for his third double-digit scoring performance of the season. Nae’Qwan Tomlin followed up with eight points and a pair of blocked shots, and Dean Wade – playing in his 300^th career game – pitched in with five points, five boards and a team-high three steals. 

The Cavaliers – who finished 4-2 on the six-game homestand – shot 52 percent from the floor and drilled 17 triples. Cleveland committed just a dozen miscues on the night outdid the Clippers on second-chance scoring, 21-12. 

Kenny Atkinson assessed the homestand following Sunday’s win. “I’d give us a B grade,” said the league’s reigning Coach of the Year. “We're learning a lot about ourselves, but we have a ways to go to get where we want to go. So, good, not great, which is fine. But I'll take 12-6 with our health situation. I think I think a lot of it is offense, quite honestly, where we’ve got to still figure some things out. We can’t have Donovan be our savior all the time. But I think as we get guys back, we'll get better.”

L.A. was led by Ivica Zubac, one of just three Clippers in double-figures with 33 points on 15-for-22 shooting while leading both squads with 18 boards in the loss. Future Hall of Famer Chris Paul, likely playing in his final game in Cleveland, got a nice ovation from Rocket Arena fans when he checked into the game late in the first quarter. 

The win was the Cavaliers’ fifth straight over the Clippers here in Cleveland. The Wine & Gold are now 25-8 against Western Conference squads dating back to last season. 

*** After wrapping up the six-game homestand with a convincing win over the Clippers, the Wine and Gold hit the road for the first time in almost two weeks when they travel north of the border for a Monday night matchup with the Raptors. After the Thanksgiving holiday, Cleveland heads to Atlanta for an NBA Cup matchup on Friday night before closing out the month of November the following Sunday at Rocket Arena against the Celtics. The Wine and Gold tip off December the very next night when they travel to Indiana.