One of the toughest places in the East for the Wine and Gold to get a win has been Indianapolis. That trend continued on Wednesday night.
Taking the floor without the Conference’s reigning Player of the Month – LeBron James, who was given the night off with the Playoffs rapidly approaching – the Cavaliers were out of sorts defensively from the opening tip, surrendering 70 first-half points before dropping the 123-109 decision at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Wine and Gold arrived in Indy having won four straight – including a 29-point victory the previous night in Milwaukee. But Cleveland was also playing their fifth game in seven nights and were on the second night of a back-to-back – one of seven that they’ve played since the start of March.
On Wednesday, the Cavaliers’ defense allowed the Pacers to shoot 56 percent from the floor and 52 percent from beyond the arc. The 70 points surrendered in the first half equaled a season-high, set by Golden State in the Cavs’ worst defeat of the year.
Indiana’s starters did much of that damage on the offensive end, but it was a pair of reserves that added insult to injury, with Solomon Hill – a 22 percent three-point shooter – going 3-of-4 from long-range and former Cavalier, C.J. Miles going 6-of-8, notching 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers were led by Kyrie Irving, who finished with 26 points on 11-for-18 shooting to go with a team-high six assists and three steals.
Kevin Love followed up with 23 points, going 3-of-5 from long-range and 10-for-10 from the stripe. Love tweaked his lower back when he and Timofey Mozgov went for a rebound midway through the third quarter but was able to return midway through the fourth.
Three other Cavaliers – J.R. Smith, Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson – finished with 10 points apiece for Cleveland.
Three things that the Cavaliers had depended upon over the course of their recent run were ball movement, three-point shooting and the play of their four-time MVP. But on Wednesday night, they didn’t hit that trifecta – finishing with only 15 assists (after averaging 30 per game over the previous four), having string of games connecting on double-digit treys snapped at 16 and taking on a playoff-hungry Pacers team without a player who’s averaged almost a triple-double over the last two weeks.
The Cavaliers shot 48 percent in the loss, including 28 percent from long-distance. They snagged only 33 boards, were outscored in the paint and on the break and didn’t lead by more than a point all night.
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