Chris Paul planted his right foot on the Quicken Loans Arena court and sent Cavaliers Matthew Dellavedova flailing to the court. He eventually got up.
The Clippers, though, never could get their footing.
Cleveland held the Clippers at a safe distance for most of Thursday night, beating them 115-102.
DeAndre Jordan’s poor free-throw shooting collided with Cleveland coach David Blatt’s willingness to muck up the game, and the hack-a strategy gave the Clippers problems.
The Cavs outscored the Clippers 14-4 when intentionally fouling Jordan. He was 6-of-15 from the line.
LeBron James bristled at the suggestion that the strategy somehow cheapened the result.