Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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Cleveland’s 99-92 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Q on Wednesday night came 362 days after the Cavaliers knocked off the Clip Show to end its NBA record 26-game losing streak. Although the result was the same, the circumstances were not. Last season’s Cavaliers were a shell-shocked, lifeless bunch wandering aimlessly from one beat-down to the next: this season’s Cavaliers are anything but, as without Kyrie Irving they simply outworked the New-and-Improved Clip Show in a physical battle at the Q.

Second-Half Attack. After battling the Clippers to a 40-40 draw at intermission, Cleveland came out of the locker room and seized control with a 14-2 half-opening run. Although the L.A. Junior Varsity (and they still are, despite being up on the Lake Show in the standings) came back to tie on two different occasions, they never regained the lead. Essentially Cleveland won the game in the first minute-and-a-half of the third period, when Anderson Varejao’s put-back and two Daniel Gibson jumpers gave the Cavaliers a 47-40 lead and put the Clip Show in permanent comeback mode.  

Razor Ramon: Cleveland’s prize rookie was on the pine Wednesday night courtesy of Dwayne Wade’s extremities, but the Cavaliers didn’t miss a beat without him, thanks to a backup performance that would have made Don Strock proud. Playing a season-high 39 minutes, Ramon Sessions shot 9-of-16 on the way to more season highs in points (24) and assists (13) and outplayed Chris Paul, who sleepwalked to a 5-of-16 night.

Many Happy Returns: Daniel Gibson, the oft-injured yet-gritty guard, played his first game in two weeks on Wednesday night and made it a good one. Thrust right into the starting lineup, Gibson played 35 minutes, scored 17 points and played his usual sneaky-good defense. As usual he didn’t hesitate to take an important shot, as his dagger from downtown broke the last tie of the night and gave Cleveland a 90-87 lead with 1:20 left.

O Homen que frustra: At least according to Google Translator. The Brazilian hit the floor hard twice in the second half- leaving for a spell after the first wipeout- but came back to post 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 bruising minutes. He also goaded and exasperated Blake Griffin, Dunk-a-sarous Rex himself, who racked up 25 and 15 but fouled out shoving Varejao in the back in the final seconds and never made the highlight play which might have turned the tide in the favor of the Clip Show. Varejao’s physical play set the tone for a night of shoves and standoffs, and his aggressiveness drove the Cavaliers to victory.   

Shots of Jamison: Antawn Jamison played Blake Griffin more or less to a draw- and that was good enough. The old pro from Carolina poured in a game-high 27 on 10-of-18 shooting, adding 8 rebounds and 3 assists, and provided the highlight of the night midway through the third quarter when he blindly flipped in a 12-footer while being fouled by Kenyon Martin.

Old-Man Eyenga: “22-year old” Christian Eyenga, with his wrinkled face and male-pattern baldness, provided a young man’s energy in the second period. The Congo Kid’s three-pointer and baseline layup (in which he made like a college player during the dunk ban by rising above the rim and simply dropping it in) topped off a 10-2 run and gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the night, 29-28 with 5:02 left in the half, and he punctuated his offensive heroics by swatting Blake Griffin’s ensuing baseline shot out of bounds.  

Defense: Cleveland’s first-half defense helped turn the game. After taking a 22-13 advantage on Chris Paul’s layup, the Clippers shot 3-of-18 and committed five turnovers in the next 12 minutes. The Cavaliers outscored Los Angeles 16-6 in that quarter-long span to get back in the game for good. After starting off hot the Clippers finished at 41 percent from the floor, including a woeful 3-of-15 from downtown.

Pressure Points: Trailing by fifteen late in the third period, the Clip Show mounted a charge behind Griffin, Caron Butler and Kenyon Martin, who played his first game with the Artists Formerly Known as the Buffalo Braves and provided a spark off the bench. (K-Mart has the worst tattoos in the NBA, and that is saying something.) Los Angeles eventually tied it at 73-73 with 7:46 to play. They would tie it again at 87-87 with 2:10 left.

But they couldn’t get over the hump. Los Angeles had a couple of opportunities to take the lead late but came up empty. Meanwhile, every time the Cavaliers needed a basket they got one- from Sessions, Jamison, Gibson and Varejao, the quartet that combined for 83 of Cleveland’s 99 points.

Family Reunion: Mo Williams played his first game in Cleveland since being traded to Los Angeles nearly a year ago, but although there were warm greetings from old friends there was little in the way of production as basketball’s most “emo” player scored a quiet 5 on 2-of-10 shooting. He’ll have to do better than that if the Clippers are going to withstand the loss of Chauncey Billups, who is done for the season after blowing his Achilles Tuesday night in Orlando.    

Fun Stat: Last season’s streak-breaking win over the Clippers brought Cleveland’s record to 9-45. Wednesday’s win over the Clippers brought Cleveland’s record to 10-14.

The Sephardic Cedric Henderson: Wednesday’s line from Omri Casspi: 21 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 foul. Can someone pull some strings in the IDF and get his unit called up?

(Sorry.)

Lottery Update: As of the end of Wednesday’s game, here are the inverse standings in the race for the plurality of ping pong balls in June’s Lottery:

Charlotte (3-22: -- GB)

New Orleans (4-22: 0.5)

Washington (5-21: 1.5)

Detroit (7-20: 3)

New Jersey (8-19: 4)

Toronto (8-19: 4)

Sacramento (9-16: 6)

Golden State (8-14: 6.5)

Cleveland (10-14: 7.5)

New York (11-15: 7.5)

Barring long-term injuries, the Cavaliers almost certainly won’t “catch” the Bobcats, Hornets or Bullets and probably won’t catch the Pistons. The next four teams are within reach- particularly Toronto, which has mesmerized Cleveland twice and has two more meetings with the Cavaliers.

But now the schedule turns kinder. Wednesday night’s game was the first in a nine-game home stand, one of the longest in NBA history.

Scary but true: Cleveland actually has a chance to make a move in the playoff race over the next three weeks. The Cavaliers are currently tied with New York for the ninth overall spot, a half-game behind Milwaukee.

Next: Speak of the Devil, and He appears… in the form of the Milwaukee Bucks, who come to town for a 7:30 tipoff on Friday night.