Ivica Zubac scored 28 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 33 points and the Los Angeles Clippers extended their winning streak to four games with a 132-119 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in Inglewood, Calif.
James Harden posted 22 points and nine assists and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 20 points while shooting 8-for-8 from the floor as the Clippers (39-30) improved their home winning streak to seven games. Zubac’s third 20-20 performance of the season came on his 28th birthday.
The Los Angeles victory came without head coach Tyronn Lue, who was out for the fourth time in the past six games because of back pain, while assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy also was away from the team because of a family medical matter.
Max Strus scored a season-high 24 points and Donovan Mitchell added 18 points and 11 assists for the Cavaliers, who lost their second consecutive game following a franchise-record 16-game winning streak.
Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De’Andre Hunter each scored 17 points for Cleveland (56-12), which fell into a tie with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the NBA. The Cavaliers were opening a five-game West Coast road trip.
The Cavaliers led by as many as five points in the third quarter before the Clippers rallied to take a 106-102 lead into the fourth.
A 9-1 run early in the final period gave Los Angeles a 115-103 lead with 9:12 remaining on a 3-pointer from Bogdanovic.
The Clippers went up 121-113 with 4:45 remaining on a layup in traffic by Zubac before a rebound and follow-up dunk by Zubac put Los Angeles on top 123-115 with 3:31 left. Leonard ended a 6-0 run on a fadeaway jumper for a 12-point lead with 2:28 remaining.
Los Angeles shot 54.8 percent from the floor in the victory and grabbed 49 rebounds to Cleveland’s 29. The Clippers also were 16 of 35 (45.7 percent) from 3-point range. The Cavaliers finished at 48.9 percent from the field, 14 of 41 (34.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
In a sharp-shooting first quarter, the Cavs took a 45-37 lead after both teams shot better than 56 percent. Cleveland led 73-68 at halftime by shooting 56.5 percent, while the Clippers were at 51.2 percent.
–Field Level Media
