Cleveland routs listless Clippers, 114-90

Doc Rivers made a pregame joke about the potentially detrimental effects of the L.A. nightlife on the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have been in town since Wednesday.

“Let’s go L.A.!” Rivers chanted in jest as he departed the interview room before his Clippers played the Cavaliers.

It was actually the Clippers who looked a step slow and out of rhythm for most of a 114-90 loss to the Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.

A 10-point lead in the first quarter thanks to some hot shooting from the Clippers’ J.J. Redick quickly vanished amid a long cold spell and crisp ball movement by the Cavaliers, which led to open look after open look.

LeBron James, J.R. Smith and Channing Frye made the most of them for the Cavaliers, who pulled away after outscoring the Clippers, 37-22, in the second quarter.

James scored 27 points on nine-for-15 shooting, making three of four shots from three-point range. Smith scored 17 points on six-for-nine shooting, making five of eight three-point attempts, and Frye had 15 points on five-for-seven three-point accuracy.

The Cavaliers built leads as large as 26 points, making it a relatively stress-free afternoon for former Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue in his first game coaching against Rivers, his longtime mentor. Rivers picked up a technical foul in the second quarter and appeared to tell officials afterward he was only signaling for a timeout.

The game was such a rout that Clippers forward Jeff Green was the team’s only starter to play in the fourth quarter. The up-and-down Green struggled with his shot, making only two of 10 for seven points.

Redick finished with 19 points and Chris Paul had 17 for the Clippers. Redick could not sustain a start in which he made his first four shots, shooting three of seven after that.

Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute did not have a memorable return from the lacerated left eyelid that had sidelined him since Feb. 29, scoring two points on one-for-five shooting and struggling at times to stay in front of James. He wasn’t alone.

Clippers forward Paul Pierce sat out a second consecutive game after testing his sore right big toe in warmups and deciding it had not sufficiently healed.

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch