Clippers Pull Out Most of the Stops

In the battle of rising stars, the one from the East sank this time and the one from the West ascended.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, who caught the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back and beat them last week in Cleveland, showed up here Saturday night on the second night of a back-to-back and had all they could do just to stay in the game.

The Clippers rolled up a 19-point lead, held off a fourth-quarter rally that saw the Cavaliers get no closer than nine points and beat them, 102-90, at in Staples Center, led by Elton Brand, who scored 30 points and Corey Maggette, who had 24.

The Clippers had lost three of four games after their 9-2 start but are now starting a five-game homestand, their longest of the season, hoping to demonstrate anew they’re for real.

“I don’t really care what people say,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “I know who we are. I know what we are. I wasn’t the one saying we’re an elite team. I think we’re a good team, a playoff team.

“The one thing I like is when I look down in the statistics and see we’re No. 1 in opponents’ field-goal percentage.”

The Clippers started the night leading the league, holding opponents to 41.5%, before holding the Cavaliers to 34.8%.

LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 30 points, but he had to take 25 shots to get them, of which he missed 17.

The Cavaliers’ problems Saturday started Friday, when they lost in Seattle, flew here, arrived at 2 a.m., slept in and then boarded a bus for Staples Center ... which got stuck in traffic after the USC-UCLA game.

The trip from Beverly Hills took an hour and 10 minutes and the Cavaliers didn’t arrive until 6:25 for the 7:30 tipoff.

“It’s draining,” Cavalier guard Larry Hughes said before the game. “I felt fresh when I got on the bus.”

If Cavalier Coach Mike Brown wondered if energy would be a problem, it didn’t take long to find out it was.

He started the game by sending center Zydrunas Ilgauskas at Chris Kaman. In their meeting in Cleveland last week, Ilgauskas had outscored Kaman, 29-5, and fouled him out of the game, but it wasn’t happening again Saturday.

On the first possession, Ilgauskas got the ball, found no opening, tried to bump Kaman out of the way, was fortunate not to be called for charging, and threw up an awkward shot that missed badly.

It got worse after that.

Lowlights included letting Brand go in for a layup and a three-point play off a made free throw by James, Hughes missing a layup on a fastbreak, and Drew Gooden shoving a shot into the outstretched hand of Kaman, who didn’t even jump on the play.

In all, the Cavaliers missed 14 of their first 15 shots with Ilgauskas and James each going 0 for 5. They didn’t make their second shot until Hughes’ 22-footer, 7:18 into the game.

By then, the Clippers were up 20-4. They led by as many as 17 points late in the second quarter before Gooden scored on a rebound to cut it to 52-37 at the half.

Ilgauskas wound up scoring 20 points, but he made only seven of 16 shots. Meanwhile, Kaman scored 12 and had a monster night on the boards, taking 19 rebounds.

“His biggest problem is himself,” Dunleavy said of Kaman. “He beats himself up because he wants to play great.

“I was really proud of the way he went at Ilgauskas after a poor showing in Cleveland.”