Cavaliers out pace Indiana 120-109

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 114-104 on Wednesday night to the Houston Rockets, one of the NBA’s best teams this season, they welcomed the Indiana Pacers (2-13, 0-8 road) to Rocket Arena on Friday night.

The Pacers come to Cleveland, a shell of the team that knocked the Cavs out of the playoffs in the second-round last season on their way to the NBA Finals. The Indiana injury report listed half the state of Indiana a on it including their superstar and Cavs killer Tyrese Haliburton who tore his right Achilles Tendon in the NBA Finals in June. Aside from all of the injuries Thomas Bryant, who was a physical presence for the Pacers, is now a member of the Cavaliers and they lost Center Myles Turner as he signed with Milwaukee in the offseason. Tonight the Cavs took care of business defeating the Pacers 120-109.

The game was ugly in the first three plus minutes. With 8:50 left on the clock Evan Mobley, after missing two free throws earlier, dunked to give the Cavs a 6-5 lead. The Cavs took a 10-8 lead with 8:01 left when Darius Garland hit Jaylon Tyson in the paint. Both Garland and Tyson were returning from missing several games with injuries, Garland a big toe and Tyson a concussion. The Cavs took a 22-20 lead with 4:29 left when De’Andre Hunter drained a three. With the game tied at 26-26 Larry Nance, Jr. stole the ball from TJ McConnell and dunked at the other end. With 2:17 left Mitchell drained a three to give the Cavs a 31-26 lead. Pacers coach and future hall of famer Rick Carlise took a time out. As the quarter ended the Cavs led 33-31. Mobley and Andrew Nembhard led all scorers with 12 points each after one period. The Cavs outshot the Pacers 50% (11 of 22) to 46% (10 of 22). The Pacers outshot the Cavs from long range 46% (5 of 11) to 27% (3 of 11). The Cavs had a slight edge on the boards 12-11.

The Cavs’ lead grew to 37-31 after the Pacers committed a shot clock violation and Craig Porter, Jr. scored at the other end. The Pacers cut the Cavs lead to three points at 39-36 when McConnell drained a three from the top of the arc. After the Pacers tied the game 41-41 the Cavs regained the lead and then went up 44-41 when Mitchell was fouled by Pascal Siakam and made two of three free throws. The Cavs were once again having a less than average night at the free throw line with 6:49 left on the clock the Cavs were shooting 69% (9 of 13). With 5:22 left on the clock the Pacers took a 45-44 lead when Bennedict Mathurin scored in the paint. The Cavs regained the lead with 4:49 left when Garland scored in the paint at the other end and was fouled. After Garland hit the free throw the Cavs led 47-45. Two teams traded leads again with Cavs taking a 49-48 lead with 4:27 left when Garland scored twice from the free throw line again. Then after Indiana failed to score at the other end Garland wasted no time draining a three from the left side of the arc to give the Cavs a 52-48 advantage with 4:01 left in the first half. The Pacers cut the Cavs lead to 55-52 with 2:02 left on the clock when Garland turned the ball over and Nembhard scored. The Cavs took a 57-52 lead when Mitchell was fouled with 1:10 left and hit both bonus shots. When the half ended the Cavs led 62-55. Garland led everyone in scoring with 18 points. Mathurin and Nembhard each had 14 for the Pacers. The Cavs outshot the Pacers 48% (20 of 42) to 42% (19 of 45) from the field in the first half. The Pacers slightly outshot the Cavs from three-point range 32% (7 of 22) to 31% (5 of 16). The Pacers were 10 of 10 from the free throw line while the Cavs shot 17 of 21, Garland was a perfect 7 of 7. The battle of the board was even as each team pulled down 24 rebounds in the first half.

The Cavs lead grew to 70-61 with 9:39 left in the third quarter after Mitchell scored on a layup. Carlisle took an immediate timeout. With 7:09 left on the clock the Cavs took a 78-66 lead when Mitchell drained another three. Seconds later Mitchell picked up his fourth foul and had to leave the game with 20 points with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter. The Cavs lead ballooned to 16 points with 5:46 left in the third when De’Andre Hunter hit a three from the corner. The Cavs had their biggest lead of the night to that point when the third quarter ended as they were up 100-81. Mitchell and Nembhard led all scorers with 26 each through three. The Cavs were also up big in the battle of the boards 42-30.

Less than 30 seconds in the final quarter the Cavs’ lead was 22 over the undermanned Pacers when Mitchell drained another three to give the Cavs a 103-81 lead with 11:33 left. The Pacers stormed back and after a couple of Cavs turnovers Indiana cut the lead to 103-89 with 9:23 left on the clock. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson took a timeout. With 7:34 left the old Cavs nemesis Siakam cut the Cavs lead to 103-92 with another three. With 6:11 left the Pacers trimmed the lead even further to 103-95 when McConnell scored in the paint. The Cavs responded by scoring the next four points and the Cavs lead was back 12 points with 5:33 remaining. With 4:13 remaining the Cavs led 107-97. With 3:44 remaining Lonzo Ball hit Mitchell and then with 3:14 left Mobley drained a three and the Cavs lead was 113-97. When time ran out the Cavs moved to 2-1 in Cup play as they defeated the Pacers 120-109.

Four Cavs finished with 20+ points led by Mitchell with 32. Mobley had 22, Garland and Hunter each had 20. Nembhard has 32 for the Pacers in a losing effort.

The Cavs shot 48% (43 of 89) from the field while the Pacers shot 42% (37 of 88). The Cavs also outshot the Pacers from behind the three-point line 38% 13 of 35) to 28% (11 of 37). Indiana did outshoot the Cavs from the free throw line 92% (24 of 26) to 78% (21 of 27). Mobley once again struggle from the charity stripe hitting 7 of 11 and is now shooting 61% for the season and 56% (23 of 41) in his last five games. The Cavs won the battle of the boards 52-43, it is just the 7th time in 17 games that the Cavs have outrebounded their opponent.

The Cavs will complete their six game homestand on Sunday night at 6 pm when they host the Los Angeles Clippers (4-11, 1-6 road). The Cavs lead the all-time series against L.A. 79-61 and are 51-21 at home in Cleveland (Cleveland Arena, Richfield Coliseum, Rocket Arena). Last season the two teams split with the Cavs winning in Cleveland on March 30th and the Clippers winning in L.A. on March 18th.