Cavs snap Pacers win streak
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — “The champions are here, and we’ve got to be at our best.”
Those were Nate McMillan’s words before the Pacers hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. For most of the first half, the Pacers were indeed at their best. They led 36-25 after the first quarter, and led by as many as 15 points. But in the 3rd quarter, the wheels came off. Cleveland outscored Indiana 40-18 in the third before ultimately winning 132-117, snapping the Pacers seven-game win streak.
“We played a really good team tonight,” Paul George said. “But it’s just one game. We know the reason we lost. We know what we’ve got to clean up.”
George (22 points, eight rebounds, six assists) was able to match LeBron James (25 points, six rebounds, nine assists) on the stat sheet. Jeff Teague also did his part to match Kyrie Irving, putting together a monster night of 22 points and 14 assists. But there was no match for long-time Pacer killer Kyle Korver. Korver scored 29 points in 26 minutes, while shooting 8-of-9 from 3-point range.
“That’s a tough team to guard,” said Head Coach Nate McMillan. “You’ve got to defend the paint and the perimeter, and they just have multiple weapons. They played like the number one team in the East.”
Pacers center Myles Turner agreed. “We just fell apart,” Turner said. “If you over-help or don’t help enough, they’ll hurt you. We still have some work to do.”
Paul George after the loss- pic.twitter.com/52xc2fBIs8
— Tyler Smith (@TylerSmith_ISL) February 9, 2017
The Pacers committed just 12 turnovers for the game, but Cleveland turned those mistakes into 24 points.
“They just make you pay when you turn the ball over,” McMillan said. “You’ve got to be calm in games like this. I thought we got rattled. We lost our composure and they took advantage.”
C.J. Miles led the Pacers with 23 points on 6-of-9 from behind the arc. Miles was still a minus-19 while on the court, however.
It was just the seventh home loss of the season for Indiana, who is in the midst of their toughest two-week stretch of the season. They will travel to Washington Friday, will host the Spurs next week, and will also play the Cavs and Wizards again in that stretch.
“If we’re serious about where we want to get to, then we’ll respond Friday,” Paul George said.
No matter how these next few weeks play out, the Pacers are in a much better position after winning seven straight games. Through all the ups and downs, there’s still a lot of basketball to be played.
