When the Cleveland Cavaliers take the floor at Staples Center on Friday, it’ll be a completely different Clippers team staring back at them.
Back when the two teams met in November, the Cavs were tasked with the challenge of holding dominant big men Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan in check. Just a few months later, Griffin is gone and replaced with defensive-minded players Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris. With Cleveland lacking a lot of size, especially losing Tristan Thompson to injury last week, the situation couldn’t be more ideal.
The Cavs will be facing a Los Angeles team that is currently in the NBA Playoffs in the Western Conference, claiming the eighth seed by just one game over Utah and Denver.