Clippers not quite fit for King in loss to Cavaliers

The blemish cited by skeptics about the upstart Clippers, the rain cast on the early parade, is that the team has yet to beat a top-notch opponent.

The three teams they defeated to begin the season came in winless. The Indiana Pacers were 3-0, but also had gained their victories against winless opponents -- and they haven’t won since playing the Clippers, falling to 3-3.

Dethroning a King and the defending Eastern Conference champions in one swoop would have helped silence the naysayers. But that quality win against that type of quality opponent will have to wait. The Clippers lost to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-95, Sunday night at Staples Center and settled into their first losing streak of the season.

A game after losing badly to the Detroit Pistons, the Clippers rallied from deficits of 11 points in the first quarter and 13 points in the third, before finally faltering in the fourth.

“No excuses,” Corey Maggette said. “We could have come out with a little bit more energy. We played better in the second and third quarters, but we just did not get it done.”

Sam Cassell scored a game-high 28 points, including 11 in the third quarter. Maggette had 25 points and Chris Kaman added 21, but the Clippers received only seven points from their bench.

The Cavaliers engineered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and the Clippers’ attempt at hurdling a double-digit deficit for a third time fell short.

“We just had too many dry spells during the game,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said, later adding of the comebacks: “You spend a lot of energy in doing that. It probably cost us some, as far as coming back and having to take guys out and give them a rest and they didn’t get their normal rest periods.”

Cassell, who averaged 24 minutes in the team’s first five games, played 39 minutes against Cleveland.

Maggette played 43 minutes and Kaman totaled 38.

James, who arrived averaging 27.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, scored 22 points, though he made only nine of 21 shots. His night included several breakaway dunks and he also had eight assists.

“This is the best offensively that we have played in three years,” James said. “The way we are getting the ball upcourt, sharing the ball and getting into our rhythm.

“This is the best offensive performance we have had this early in the season.”

The difference in the game was the play of Cleveland’s interior players. Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and power forward Drew Gooden combined for 43 points. Gooden had 17 rebounds, five coming on the offensive end as the Cavaliers out-rebounded the Clippers, 43-39.

“We played hard all night,” Dunleavy said. “It was our decision making. We turned the ball over and missed some coverages. Because of that, they got some easy scores.”

The Clippers trailed, 50-44, at halftime. Maggette took his game to the inside, scoring 18 points in the half, seven on free throws. Cassell added 11 points and Kaman scored eight, including an authoritative dunk over the Cavaliers’ Cedric Simmons.

James scored 14 of his points before halftime, making five of 10 shots.

He also had four steals in the half as the Clippers turned the ball over nine times.

So, after starting the season by reeling off four straight wins, the Clippers are now 4-2. They play host to the New York Knicks on Wednesday.

“You ride the wave,” reserve guard Brevin Knight said. “Never get too high. Never get too low. It’s the NBA, you are going to lose some games, you are going to win some games.

“We’ll come back from this.”

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com