Clippers cut Cavs down to size

CLEVELAND – J.J. Redick scored 23 points, Blake Griffin matched a career high with 11 assists and the Los Angeles Clippers bounced back from a brutal loss with a 113-94 victory on Thursday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have lost two straight for the first time as defending NBA champions.

Chris Paul scored 16 and DeAndre Jordan had 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who blew an 18-point lead and fell in double overtime at Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Los Angeles took control with a 13-2 run to open the third quarter.

Kyrie Irving scored 28 and LeBron James 16 for the Cavs, who were outplayed for the second game in a row. Cleveland lost at Milwaukee on Tuesday, when coach Tyronn Lue pulled his starters in the second half and J.R. Smith wandered off the floor during play and gave up an easy basket.

This wasn’t much better as Lue pulled James, Irving, Smith, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson with seven minutes left as it became very clear there would be no comeback as the Cavs are in their first true slump since winning the title in June.

In Salt Lake City, Goran Dragic scored 27 points and the Miami Heat continued to play better on the road with a 111-110 victory over the Utah Jazz.

James Johnson scored a season-high 24 points off the bench and Wayne Ellington added 17 for the Heat, who have five of their seven wins on the road.

The Jazz had the ball with 3.9 seconds remaining and Gordon Hayward missed a contested midrange jumper before time expired.

The Heat attacked the rim relentlessly throughout the game to score 64 points in the paint. The Jazz allowed a season-high 58 points in the paint to the Heat in mid-November.

Hayward had 32 points and seven assists. Joe Johnson chipped in 18 points as the Jazz lost despite knocking down a franchise-record 17 3-pointers in 30 attempts.

A 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter gave the Heat a 12-point lead and Miami barely hung on the rest of the way.

The Heat took a 52-48 lead into halftime thanks to a 19-2 run highlighted by eight points from Ellington. The Jazz answered with a 12-2 stretch to close the half and cut into the lead.

The Jazz came into the game allowing just 38.9 points per game in the paint, tied for No. 4 in the league.

In other results, Charlotte trounced Dallas, 97-87; Milwaukee downed Brooklyn, 111-93;  and Memphis nipped Orlando, 95-94.

Back in Cleveland, the Cavs failed to make 10 3-pointers for the first time this season, ending its league record to start a season at 16 games.

The Clippers outscored the Cavs 27-15 in the third, when James and Co. showed frustration and briefly lost their focus.

Irving and Thompson argued on the floor during a timeout, and James was later called for a technical when he pushed the Clippers’ Alan Anderson to the floor while being fouled on a layup.

The Clippers took advantage of Cleveland’s sloppiness at the start of the third quarter and scored eight quick points before Paul’s 3-pointer gave them a 71-52 lead.

The Cavs committed two turnovers in the first 46 seconds of the period, prompting Lue to call a timeout. He called another one a few minutes later as the Cavs were beaten for two easy dunks by Jordan.

Redick made two 3-pointers in the final 51 seconds of the second quarter as the Clippers closed a choppy first half with a 7-2 spurt to open a 58-50 lead.