Both teams desperately needed a win, and it was
evident in how the game played out Monday evening.
The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Indiana Pacers
and it wasn't the most entertaining brand of basketball, but each squad fought
and clawed down to the wire with the goal of breaking their two-game losing
skids.
In the end, the Cavaliers, in particular Tristan
Thompson, made more plays down the stretch to get the 100-96 victory at The Q.
LeBron James returned to action after resting in
Sunday's loss to the Washington Wizards, and he supplied a game-high 33 points
to go with five boards and four assists. Kyrie Irving went for 22 points and
six assists as he eclipsed 6,000 points for his career.
To shake things up and to ignite a spark off the
bench, Tyronn Lue elected to go back to Timofey Mozgov in the starting lineup
and bring the energetic Thompson in with the second unit.
When it seemed like Indiana (31-29) was on the verge
of stealing one from Cleveland (42-17), Matthew Dellavedova hit a huge
game-tying 3-pointer with 1:13 left in the game. Indiana's Paul George got the
ball on the next possession and missed a wild driving layup.
James ended up with the ball and penetrated hard to
his left and drew two defenders before dishing it off to Thompson for a tough
left-handed floater to give his team a two-point lead with 39 seconds
remaining.
The Pacers still had life and plenty of time.They swung the ball around with nowhere to go, and then
Monta Ellis decided to attack the defense. He got to the rim for a layup, but
Thompson came up with a game-saving block, and the Cavaliers got control of the
ball.
Indiana had to foul Irving, and he made both free
throws and two more after another Indiana miss to seal the victory. Thompson
registered 14 points and 11 boards, giving his team the spark it was looking
for. Kevin Love added 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Cavs' J.R. Smith had been unusually vocal,
saying if his teammates are not bringing the energy and effort with how they've
been playing of late, then players shouldn't be sporting the wine and gold
jerseys.
It has been a difficult chore for Lue to get this
team to perform at a high level from start to finish. You couldn't question the
effort on this night. As far as energy, both teams looked like they were indeed
playing their second game in as many nights.
"My focus is just getting us to play 48 minutes
of hard basketball," Lue said. "Competing for 48 minutes. That's my job,
to get the team to do that. Whether or not who plays, it doesn't matter. We've
still got to come out and compete every night."
For the first three quarters, it looked the old Mike
Fratello low-scoring Cavaliers. It was a defensive bout, and whichever team was
able to make a few plays toward the end had the best opportunity to break its
slide, and that's exactly what happened.
"We've just got to get back to our defensive
foundation," Lue said. "It's just not all on one person."
Ellis led Indiana with 28 points and George provided
23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Cleveland now leads the season
series, 3-0.
On deck
The reigning Eastern Conference champs won't play
again until Friday, but it's a quick rematch with the Washington Wizards. It will
be a nationally televised game on ESPN at 8 p.m.
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