The Los Angeles Clippers snapped a three-game NBA skid in impressive style on Thursday, humbling reigning champions the Cavaliers 113-94 in Cleveland, Ohio.
LeBron James and the Cavaliers endured their second straight defeat on the heels of an upset loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
It was the first time this season the 13-4 Cavaliers had lost two straight games.
Photo: David Richard-USA Today
“Those guys did a good job — they played desperate basketball, with them losing the last three,” James said of the Clippers. “They played some good ball. We’ve got to figure it out, which we will.”
The Clippers held an eight-point lead over the lackluster champions at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 13-2 scoring run to seize control.
J.J. Redick scored 23 points and Chris Paul 16, while Blake Griffin scored 13 and matched his career high with 11 assists for the Clippers, who were coming off an embarrassing double-overtime loss in Brooklyn.
DeAndre Jordan pulled down 15 rebounds and the Clippers as a team passed for a season-high 33 assists.
“I thought it was a team win because I thought every single guy had a contribution,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who criticized his team’s complacency after the loss to the Nets.
That was never going to happen against the Cavaliers, he added.
“The reason was we respected them,” Rivers said. “They’re the Cleveland Cavaliers. They get your attention.”
However, the Cavaliers never really fired.
“It was a weird game,” James said. “Especially in that first half, the second quarter the whistle was blowing so much we couldn’t get in a rhythm. The game just kind of unraveled, we got in foul trouble ... they just broke our rhythm.”
After that unsettling first half, the Cavaliers started the second with three successive turnovers, followed by missed shots on their next five possessions.
They did not score their first basket of the second half until almost four minutes into the third quarter, when the Clippers were up by 16.
Kyrie Irving scored 28 points and James added 16 for the Cavs, but Cleveland were held to 40.6 percent shooting and made 18 turnovers leading to 21 Clippers points, while producing just 12 assists.
“We played the right way,” Clippers point guard Paul said. “It was important for us to see what it felt like to win a game. When you’re running off [wins] like we were and then you lose three in a row, you need to get that feeling back just to get our locker room back right.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two