Lebron James, Kevin Love Lead Cavaliers Past Clippers

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James seems to have mostly gotten over his team’s loss to the Golden State Warriors earlier this week.

LEBRON JAMES, KEVIN LOVE LEAD CAVALIERS PAST CLIPPERS

On Thursday, James scored 22 points with 12 assists, while J.R. Smith made six 3-pointers, and Kevin Love added 18 points and 16 rebounds to help lead the Cavs to a 115-102 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

This was Cleveland’s first home game since its burning 34-point loss to the Warriors on Monday in a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals.

“Who’s to say we shook it off,” James said regarding the loss. “We won two games. We took two or three steps backward on Monday and we took a couple steps forward these last couple games, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Cavs head coach David Blatt went on a long rant before Thursday’s game, in which he complained about the criticism his team had received after Monday’s loss. “I hear a lot of far-reaching conclusions and, personally, I don’t like it,” Blatt said. “But there’s nothing I can do about it because I’m not the one that’s saying or doing those things.”

Chris Paul and J.J. Redick led the Clippers with 30 and 17 points respectively. LA again played without forward Blake Griffin, who was out with a torn quadriceps.

The Clippers cut a 16-point deficit to six in the fourth quarter, but Love and Smith made two 3-pointers each in a span of 2:08 to put the Cavs back in control.

The Cavaliers (30-11) have now won 13 of 14 against Los Angeles (27-15).