Five things to take from Clippers’ 114-90 loss to Cleveland Cavaliers

Branden Dawson

Branden Dawson/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

– If it’s true Doc Rivers found out just before tip-off about the Sunday morning arrest of rookie Branden Dawson for felony domestic abuse, it couldn’t have been easy for Rivers to focus on the task at hand. As he noted after the game, “Obviously, it’s an awful situation, as far as I’m concerned. I have a daughter, so it’s a terrible situation.” TMZ first reported Dawson’s arrest in Playa Vista, the city in which the Clippers train. He was released on $50,000 bond.

– It’s always strange to see the Clippers play so well for a stretch, then get overwhelmed. They led this game 14-4 after five minutes and scored only five points the rest of the quarter to trail 21-19 entering the second. It’s like the Clippers have some kind of inner on-and-off switch. Of course, the Cavaliers have a lot of good players. They are more than LeBron James.

– One thing’s for sure, Cleveland had a lot of good 3-point shooters in this one. The Cavs made 18 of 37 for 48.6 percent. Asked afterward about his team’s defense at the 3-point line, Rivers said, “Well, what do you think? I thought it was pretty bad.” James made 3 of 4 from distance, Channing Frye 5 of 7 and JR Smith 5 of 8.

– The Clippers (42-23) did not shoot well – 40.5 percent overall, 31.3 percent (10 of 32) from 3-point range. Both Rivers and Chris Paul noted that Cleveland (47-18) played well on defense. But there were plenty of open misses as well. Starting forwards Luc Mbah a Moute (1 of 5) and Jeff Green (2 of 10) combined to shoot 3 of 15 and reserves Jamal Crawford (3 of 11) and Wes Johnson (4 of 13) combined to shoot 7 of 24. It’s hard to win like that, especially against a team with the third-best record in the league.

– The Cavaliers outrebounded the Clippers 49-34. Cleveland’s nine offensive rebounds accounted for 15 second-chance points. The Clippers did not get one point out of their five offensive rebounds.