Cavaliers win streak ends with 108-93 loss to Pacers

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - Sunday night in Cleveland the home Cavaliers (33-4, 20-1 home) who were sporting a 12 game winning streak welcomed the visiting Indiana Pacers (21-18, 10-12 road) to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The meeting was the first of four meetings between the two Central Division foes. When the two teams have met throughout the history of the series it has usually been a battle as the Pacers hold an edge in the all-time series 108-103, but the Cavs hold a 66-42 edge in Cleveland (Richfield Coliseum, RMFH). Sunday night the Pacers came out with a goal to end the Cavs 12 game winning streak and they did just that 108-93 sending the sellout crowd home disappointed.

After having a couple of days off the Cavs came out firing taking an early 10-0 lead just 2:09 into the game on a three by Darius Garland on a nice pass from Jarrett Allen. The Pacers then responded with a 5-0 run, but Dean Wade responded with a three 13-5 with 7:51 left in the opening quarter. The Pacers responded and over the next 4:02 cut the Cavs lead to 15-11 capped off by a three pointer by Ben Sheppard with 3:49 left on the clock. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson took a timeout. With 2:04 left the Pacers cut the Cleveland lead to 19-17 when Obi Toppin hit a turnaround jumper. Then with 1:115 left Paskal Siakam hit a jumper to tie the game at 19-19. Just 20 seconds later the Pacers took their first lead of the game 21-19 when Sheppard dropped in a layup after the Cavs fifth turnover of the first quarter. The quarter ended with that same score. The Cavs five turnovers resulted in five points for the Pacers. The Pacers outscored the Cavs 21-9 in the last 10 minutes of the opening quarter. Evan Mobley led all scorers in the first quarter with seven points. Myles Turner paced Indiana with six. Neither team shot well, but the Cavs were slightly better than Indiana shooting 38% (8 of 21) while the Pacers shot 36% (9 of 25). The Cavs outrebounded the Pacers 15-11 with Wade pulling down five of the Cavs boards.

The Cavs regained the lead early in the second quarter and led 24-21 with 10:46 remaining in the first half. With 10:00 left Thomas Bryant drove the lane, hit the shot and was fouled by Max Strus. Bryant missed the foul shot, Indiana got the rebound and recaptured the lead 25-24 on jumper by TJ McConnell. With 7:58 left the Cavs’ lead expanded to four at 29-25 when Donovan Mitchell who rested against the Toronto Raptors drained a three. The Pacers then scored the next five points to take a 30-29 lead with 6:55 left on the clock. Cleveland regained the lead with 6:02 left when Garland drained a three. With 4:07 left Merrill gave the Cavs a 39-32 lead when he drained a three. The Cavs started to pull away near the end of the quarter and took a 53-40 lead into the locker room. Mobley led all scorers at the break with 11 first half points. Turner continued to lead the Pacers with 10 points. The difference in the second quarter with the Cavs outscoring the Pacers 34-19 was shooting from the field as the Cavs shot 61% (14 of 23) in the quarter and ended up shooting 50% (22 of 44) for the half, while the Pacers shot 30% (7 of 23) in the quarter and 33% (16 of 48) in the opening half. The Cavs were not exactly scorching (38%, 9 of 24) from behind the three-point line in the opening half, but the Pacers were stone cold shooting only 17% (3 of 18). The Cavs also did not turn the ball over in the second quarter. Cleveland also outrebounded the Raptors 26-23.

With 9:40 left on the clock in the third quarter the Cavs took a 60-45 lead, their largest to that point when Mobley drove the lane, hit shot and was fouled by Benedict Mathurin. He hit the free throw to complete the three point play. The Pacers then went on a 9-0 run to pull the Pacers to within six points at 60-54 with 7:15 left in the third period. Atkinson in an attempt to thwart the Pacers momentum took a timeout. Then with 7:03 left after a Cavs turnover the Cavs lead was down to 60-56 after Siakam took the ball the length of the court. After the Pacers cut the lead to two points Allen was fouled and hit both free throws giving the Cavs a 62-58 lead with 5:52 left in the third quarter. The Pacers continued to foul Allen, this time it was Sheppard, his first. Allen hit one of two throws with 4:31 left to give Cleveland a 65-60 lead. The Pacers were not going away and scored the next five points to tie the game 65-65 on three by Mathurin with 4:04 left on the clock. With 2:30 left in the quarter the Pacers took a five point lead when Toppin hit a three and then turned the ball over again, for the sixth time in the quarter. The Pacers took the ball to the other end and Toppin emphatically slammed it home giving the Pacers a 72-65 lead with 1:59 remaining. Atkinson took another timeout as the Cavs looked stunned and disorganized for one of the few times this season. As if the Cavs were not their own worst enemy at that point the officials started calling phantom fouls on the Cavs. After the Pacers converted the free throw and then Toppin hit a jumper the Pacers lead was 77-67. The Cavs were in trouble. With :13.6 left Atkinson had seen enough and was assessed a technical foul for his choice of words toward the officials. As time expired the Cavs trailed 77-71. The Cavs turned the ball over seven times in the quarter which resulted in 12 Pacers points. Mobley continued to lead the Cavs in scoring with 16 points through three quarters. Siakam was leading the Pacers with 13. The Pacers outscored the Cavs 37-18 in the third, it felt like a throw back to the days of JB Bickerstaff where the Cavs would routinely come out stale in the third quarter.

As the fourth quarter opened the Cavs continued to flounder and the Pacers took an 84-75 lead with 9:37 left on a layup by Bryant. After the Cavs cut the lead to 84-78 Merrill was called for a foul on McConnell. Atkinson challenged the call and lost. McConnell made both free throws to give the Pacers an 86-78 lead with 9:06 left in the game. With 7:15 left the Pacers took a 90-78 lead when after the Cavs 13th turnover of the game Turner hit a three at the other end. The Cavs cut the lead to 90-80 with 6:20 left after Garland was fouled and hit both free throws. With 4:12 left Garland hit a three and then after the Pacers were stopped by the Cavs on the other end Garland drove the paint, hit the layup and was fouled. He converted the free throw to pull the Cavs to within 12 points at 98-86 with 3:34 left on the clock. It was too little too late as the Pacers scored the next five points to take a 103-86 lead with 2:44 left on the clock. The Cavs were on their way to their fifth loss of the season and second at home. After the timeout at 2:44 Atkinson raised the white flag and cleared the bench.

Garland led all scorers with 20 points in a losing effort. Nembhard led the Pacers with 19 points. The Pacers had six players in double figures scoring, while the Cavs had only four. Mobley finished the game with 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 17th double double of the season and 84th of his career.

The Cavs turned the ball over 13 times in the game that resulted in 20 Pacers points. The Cavs also shot 40% (33 of 83) and were outrebounded by the Pacers in the second half 27-18 and 50-44 for the game. The Pacers bench outscored the Cavs bench 42-24 and in the paint 48-40. In the end the Cavs were outplayed by the Pacers.

The Cavs and Pacers will quickly see each other again when they meet in Indianapolis on Tuesday night at 7 pm at Gainbridge FieldHouse. The game will be the first of a tough game road trip. After the game in Indianapolis the Cavs travel to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder (32-6, 16-2 home) and then to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves (20-18, 10-8 home).