First Thoughts: Pacers 82, Cavaliers 78
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Co-Editor
First thoughts after the Indiana Pacers squeaked by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night at Quicken Loans Arena:
IN A NUTSHELL: With 7.9 seconds left and his Cavaliers down 81-78, Earl Clark caught an inbounds pass with one foot out of bounds. That let Indiana (27-6) escape with an ugly victory after David West (11 points, seven rebounds) sank a clinching free throw. Cleveland star Kyrie Irving and sixth man Jarrett Jack were sidelined because of injuries, but the Pacers still couldn’t blow out a bad team because of their 16 turnovers and 36 percent shooting. Paul George (16 points, six assists, five rebounds) and Roy Hibbert (15 points, six rebounds) led the way, while Lance Stephenson added 10. Cleveland, which shot 34 percent (27-of-79 overall), got 21 points and six rebounds from C.J. Miles. A double-double from Tristan Thompson (13 points, 10 rebounds) and a fourth-quarter flurry from Dion Waiters (14 points, five assists) helped coach Mike Brown come away with a moral victory, if not an actual one on his coaching record.
KEY SEQUENCE: The Pacers should have had the game in hand after Danny Granger’s latest second-quarter outburst triggered a 12-2 run. Up a point, Granger stroked a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer before George used a ball fake plus an up-and-under move to score underneath. After a Thompson foul, West delivered two free throws. Granger then added a defensive board and an assist as Indiana’s lead grew to 44-33 with 1:47 to play in the first half. The Pacers’ starters fumbled the lead away to start the second half, but after Indiana took a 16-point lead in the final frame, Cleveland fought back again and sent the game down to the wire.
BEST OF THE REST: George got his third technical foul of the year for shoving Cleveland guard Matthew Dellavedova after George was called for a foul during Cleveland’s feisty third quarter. … Each team was playing the second night of a back-to-back. … Cleveland reserve center Andrew Bynum, a former All-Star who would have come in handy against Hibbert, is suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team.
WHAT WE LEARNED: The Pacers now own a nine-game winning streak over Cleveland, their longest active streak against any opponent. Indiana came out sluggish and stayed that way for most of three quarters. Granger joined Hibbert, West, George and Stephenson in double figures (10 points on 4-of-12 shooting), while his scoring might have lifted the Pacers’ malaise in the second quarter after Cleveland actually held a lead in that stanza. The Pacers host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night (with four more home games looming over the next two weeks against Washington, Sacramento, New York and Los Angeles on the season’s longest homestand).
