Cavaliers cath Clippers at wrong time
Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ lineup Friday night, and that was bad news for the Clippers.
Ilgauskas scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his first game back after sitting out a month because of a broken left ankle, as the Cavaliers improved to 22-0 at home with a 112-95 victory over the Clippers.
Cavaliers tops Clippers
With their big man back, the Cleveland Cavaliers looked much more like one of the NBA’s Eastern giants.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 20 points with 11 rebounds in his first game in exactly one month because of a broken left ankle and LeBron James added 25 points as the Cavaliers remained perfect at home with a 112-95 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
One night after a frustrating loss at powerful Orlando, the Cavaliers improved to 22-0 on their own floor and tied the franchise record for the most consecutive home wins, set in the 1988-89 season.
Mo Williams added 23 points for Cleveland, now 9-0 after a loss.
Rookie Eric Gordon scored 27 for the Clippers, who stayed close for nearly three quarters before dropping their eighth straight road game as they began a seven-game trip. Los Angeles has lost 18 of 20.
Ilgauskas had hoped to return to the lineup on Thursday against the Magic. But although Ilgauskas traveled with the Cavaliers to Florida expecting to play, Cleveland coach Mike Brown sat his 7-foot-3 center against Orlando All-Star Dwight Howard, explaining that he didn’t want to subject Ilgauskas to playing on consecutive nights so soon.