Cavaliers 88, Clippers 82
Tristan Thompson tallied 20 points and 13 rebounds and Kyrie Irving also scored 20 as Cleveland held off visiting Los Angeles.
Andrew Bynum added 18 points and Jarrett Jack scored 11 off the bench for the Cavaliers, who have won three of four. Anderson Varejao grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds as Cleveland owned a 60-45 edge on the boards.
Jamal Crawford scored 19 points in a reserve role to lead the Clippers, who dropped to 3-5 against Eastern Conference teams with their third loss in the last four games. Chris Paul tallied 13 points and 15 assists and DeAndre Jordan added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Los Angeles.
The Cavaliers led by as many as nine in the second quarter before the Clippers put together a 14-4 run, but Cleveland recovered and took a 50-49 lead into the break. After trailing by seven in the third quarter, Los Angeles charged back and took the lead when Darren Collison and Jamal Crawford hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the last 27 seconds of the period but Jack hit a 40-foot heave at the end of the quarter to give the Cavaliers a 67-66 advantage.
Cleveland scored the first six points of the final stanza and pushed the margin to double digits for the first time when Irving slashed to the basket to make it 82-72 with five minutes left. Los Angeles pulled within 85-82 on Crawford's 3-pointer with 26 seconds left, but Dion Waiters made one free throw and rebounded his own miss on the second and Irving knocked down two from the foul line to seal it.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Jordan left in the fourth quarter with a strained right arch and Clippers SG Reggie Bullock left with an apparent left leg injury. … Irving was 6-of-15 from the floor a night after being held scoreless for the first time in his career. … The game was delayed briefly in the second quarter when a fan ran on the court wearing a T-shirt that said, "Don't Leave Kyrie."