Written by Andrew Clayman

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Just two days after watching a young, inexperienced Browns team unravel in crunch time, it was somewhat therapeutic to see a pair of 20 year-olds step up like stone cold assassins in the final minutes of a surprising 108-101 Cavalier win over the Clippers tonight at Staples Center. Even the staunchest Dion Waiters haters might find themselves a little tongue-tied after this one. 

Four games into his NBA career, the kid who famously never started a game at Syracuse seems to have adjusted pretty well to his first unit status. Exhibiting an icy confidence that only occasionally tiptoed into recklessness, Dion Waiters just plain shot the lights out tonight, shooting an efficient 10-17 from the field and a bonkers 7-of-11 from three point range. All told, the rook finished with a game-high 28 points, complementing Kyrie Irving’s 24 points and thoroughly outshining the far more high-profile duo on the other end of the court. 

The Cavs (2-2) have now beaten the Clippers (2-2) 11 out of their last 12 meetings, but it’s kind of a deceiving stat. A good chunk of those triumphs involved LeBron James walking all over the likes of Baron Davis and Cuttino Mobley. Tonight—on the road and fresh off that heartbreaking loss in Milwaukee, no less—Cleveland’s youngsters were mostly getting their first ever looks at Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and the supposedly title-contending Clips. This included Kyrie Irving, who was matching up with CP3 for the first of likely many, many times to come.

Early on, it looked like Lob City would be running all over the Cavs much as the Chicago Bulls did last week, as a Caron Butler three-pointer put Los Angeles up 7-0 right out of the gate. That lead moved to 21-13 halfway through the quarter, but back-to-back Kyrie threes seemed to change the momentum, as the Cavs raced out to a 31-28 lead by the end of the frame. Irving had 16 points in the first quarter alone, making a loud and clear statement that he wasn’t merely an admirer of Chris Paul’s—he could stand toe to toe with him.

In the second quarter, it was Waiters’ turn to fire the deep ball, as two three-pointers late in the half would give Cleveland a lead they would never relinquish. Dion would stroke three more shots from downtown early in the second half, helping to stretch the Cavs’ lead to as much as 11. But playing on their home floor and coming off a disappointing loss to Golden State, L.A. hung around and waited to make their run.

Not surprisingly, that run finally came late in the fourth, as some easy penetration buckets from Paul (17 pts, 9 assts) and Griffin (20 pts, 6 rbs) finally culminated in a game-tying three from Jamal Crawford (19 pts off the bench) with 4:28 left to play. With the game knotted at 94 and the momentum seemingly in the Clippers favor, Cleveland’s “first round reach” now saw an opportunity to advertise his arrival on the national stage. On consecutive possessions, Dion Waiters shot and calmly deposited two three-point daggers that put the Cavs back in the driver seat, 100-96.

Another three by Crawford and a tough inside bucket by Griffin kept the Clippers within comeback range. But two unlikely 15-foot jumpers by Anderson Varejao held them at bay and set up the eventual game-sealing three-pointer by Irving—a shot Paul seemingly dared him to make with 28 seconds left to go, and which Kyrie gladly obliged.

Los Angeles actually outshot the Cavs 53% to 44% on the night, but three statistical categories explain how the Wine & Gold prevailed.

1. Turnovers: The Cavs weren’t exactly tidy with the ball, but their 17 give-aways were easily eclipsed by the Clippers’ 25, including 5 miscues by a sometimes indecisive Blake Griffin.

2. Three Point Field Goals: Cleveland made 14-of-29 shots from beyond the arc (48%), compared to 9-of-25 for L.A. (36%). Along with Waiters’ 7-of-11 and Kyrie’s 4-of-8, how about a little love for C.J. Miles, who finally seems to be getting his stroke figured out. Miles was 2-of-3 from downtown, including a 30+ footer with the clock running down. He finished with 10 points off the bench.

3. Offensive Rebounding: The Cavs outrebounded the Clippers 43 to 38 overall, but on the offensive glass, it was a more glaring 18 to 9 advantage. Anderson Varejao’s incredible run continued, as he grabbed five more offensive boards, finishing with 15 points and 15 boards overall for the game (not to mention a block and three steals). But the guy I shamefully have yet to mention is the Cavs other 2012 first rounder, Tyler Zeller, who also had the best performance of his very young career. Along with a 15 point, 6-for-10 shooting night, Zeller grabbed 4 offensive rebounds of his own (7 boards overall) and was a real presence in the paint—eventually taking a bad elbow to the head in the process. Tristan Thompson took down 8 rebounds, as well, but after shooting 0-for-6 from the field and 1-for-4 from the line, it’s hard to praise him too much.

Other notes from the Clippers end of the floor: Lamar Odom looks like he may never be a useful NBA player again. In four minutes on the floor, he managed as many turnovers (2) as points.

Next up on this gruesome road trip is Golden State on Wednesday night. Perhaps now you will consider staying up for that one, yes?