Cleveland Cavaliers @ LA Clippers
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 10:30 PM ET
Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA | Game ID: 22400997
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 37 31 38 26 132CLE 45 28 29 17 119
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Clippers rally past Cavaliers 132-119, handing East leaders a second straight loss
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- — Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points and the Los Angeles Clippers handed the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers their second straight loss, 132-119 on Tuesday night.
Ivica Zubac had 28 points and 20 rebounds and James Harden added 22 points and nine assists in the Clippers’ fourth straight victory.
Max Strus scored a season-high 24 points for the Cavs, whose 16-game winning streak ended Sunday against Orlando . Their NBA-best road record dropped to 26-7 after they led by 12 in a 45-point first quarter.
Donovan Mitchell had 18 points and 11 assists and Evan Mobley scored 17 points in his return from a one-game absence with a foot contusion.
Takeaways Cavaliers: Despite losing two in a row for the first time since Jan. 22-25 when they dropped three straight, they still have a comfortable lead in the East with less a month left in the regular season.
Clippers: Playing without injured coach Tyronn Lue for the fourth time recently, they clawed back from a 12-point deficit early to pull off one of their biggest wins of the season. They'll need that kind of scrappy mindset to hang on to a playoff spot.
Key moment The Clippers put together a 20-3 run over the end of the third and start of the fourth, turning a one-point back-and-forth into a 12-point lead in the final quarter. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored seven in the spurt and finished with 20 points off the bench.
Key stat The Clippers controlled the boards, 49-29, and the Cavs were 17 of 26 from the free-throw line.
Up next The Cavaliers visit Sacramento on Wednesday to finish a back-to-back. The Clippers host Memphis on Friday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLEDG D. Garland
DH D. Hunter
DM D. Mitchell
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
TJ T. Jerome
LACAC A. Coffey
BB B. Bogdanović
BS B. Simmons
DJ D. Jones Jr.
IZ I. Zubac
JH J. Harden
KD K. Dunn
KL K. Leonard
NB N. Batum
NP N. Powell
CLE/LAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur