Recap: Pacers 103, Cavs 99 (Or, Sometimes You Make Yourself Lose)

The Cavs win streak is over, and it’s largely thanks to their own actions and those of CJ Miles. The King’s men opened up the first two quarters ahead of the Pacers because they managed to shoot fifty percent from the field and 3-line with just four turnovers. LeBron James also took advantage of some great matchups to iso the Pacers to death for stretches. The second half the Cavs took 25 3-pointers and made just six of them, while the Pacers were 4-10 from the beyond the arc and had seven steals. Down the stretch the Cavs weren’t able to and didn’t really want to get any easy points off cuts or drives, which let the Pacers secure the win. It also helped that CJ Miles had a 16 point fourth quarter. The Wine & Gold seemed gassed as the night went on.

First Quarter 

The Cavs started out the quarter trying to force the Pacer bigs into uncomfortable situations. Kevin Love posted on the left elbow and got fouled by David West. Timofey Mozgov then nailed an 18 footer to pull Roy Hibbert out of the paint a little bit.  Kevin also dropped a three to stress West. A few plays later, Love would fake a shot to get West off balance before he drove in for a layup. Both teams played reasonable defense, but somehow kept getting shots to fall. The Cavs made eight of their first ten attempts, and the Pacers made five of their first ten, all of which were assisted. The Cavs got their eighth bucket when George Hill blew by Kyrie and Love, only to be met by a towering Mozgov at the rim. Timo turned him away, and the ball found it’s way to Kyrie for two points in transition. The Pacers then called a timeout with the Cavs leading around the six minute mark, 19-12.

Indiana came back with a little oomph in their play. CJ Miles drilled an open three, and LeBron turned it over. The Cavs then forgot to box out, and West got a put back two. The King bricked a three, and Love ended up on Hill on the other end of the floor. He played awesome defense by staying back where he could still contest with his length but not get blown by. Hill missed, and the mini 6-2 run ended. Damen Rudez hit two open threes in a row, but Matthew Dellavedova mitigated their damage. After the first one, Matty drove twice on the same play. The first time he got stopped but passed back out and demanded the ball again. The second touch he drove and whipped a cross court pass to get Iman Shumpert a three. After the second made Rudez 3-pointer, Matty got switched onto him during a possession and closed out hard forcing a miss. No points were scored the final minute. Cavs ahead, 31-27.

Second Quarter

The second quarter started out as the LeBron show because Rudez kept ending up on him. Rudez, if you didn’t know, is a foreign white guy who takes threes and had to flail his arms hopelessly every single time the King touched the ball under his watch. Your last name had to start with a “J” if you wanted to shoot in this quarter. LBJ took the first six shots netting eight points. The other Cavs got involved in other ways. Tristan had an 0-board, and even blocked Luis Scola before diving to the floor the next play for an offensive rebound/jump ball. After the King checked out the ball moved a little more. Kyrie immediately found Mozgov on a rim roll. Tristan also got a put back from a Kyrie miss; however, George Hill just sprinted off that make and got an easy layup.

The Cavs became especially sluggish during the final three minutes and managed to score only three points. The three was off a 35 foot Irving buzzer beater, so it was a lucky one. The Pacers managed to score just seven during that time and were down going into the half, 55-47.

Third Quarter

The Cavs started the quarter in okay fashion. J.R Smith scored two threes off Kyrie passes and Kyrie landed a jumper. The Pacers matched those shots, just with long West jumpers. After just five minutes, the Cavs were up by nine and the Pacers called a timeout. It didn’t help though. They turned it over on an out of bounds pass; the King drove it down deep to find Moz for an easy two slam with six minutes to go. The good times soon stopped for the Cavs. The remainder of the quarter they turned the ball over four times, missed six threes (none of which I would say were ill-advised or late in the shot clock), and took just one layup, which they made. Because this is the Pacers, the Good Guys were still up by three going into the final twelve, 70-67. The Pacers even scored on back-to-back fast breaks and still went 6-14 for 13 points those last six minutes. I’m surprised I didn’t fall asleep during that stretch considering all together these ten offensively challenged men went 6-25.

Fourth Quarter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEEs2r7U6l0

The Cavs remembered shots close to the hoop go in more than long ones and posted up Tristan for two. Solomon Hill got a return two by driving in from the three line, as LeBron got tangled in a pick like it was a spider web. Irving even scored a three, but followed that play up with a poor pass that was tipped into the back court. Love and Scola had the world’s least athletic NBA moment. They both trotted next to each other trying to get the ball. Scola won out, but LeBron sprinted down the floor and denied his layup with both hands. Happy highlights Scola. Love found the King for a dunk a little later. LeBron then got himself four more points from little fading jumpers to shove the Cavs firmly in front, 81-72. The Pacers then called a time out.

In just three minutes, after shooting 5-5 with two 3-pointers from CJ Miles and two Solomon Hill makes, the Pacers were up one, 84-83. Kyrie turned to hero ball. He sliced his way in to the paint hitting two jumpers in a row to get the Cavs back up and make the Pacers run stop at 12-4.

With 3:13 left and the Pacers up by three, LeBron intercepted a G. Hill pass and headed up court for an easy dunk. The momentum felt like it had shifted back to the Cavs. Solomon Hill missed a layup the following play, and out of a quick timeout, LeBron found Mozgov under the hoop. Timo missed his first layup but got the rebound and finished. Cavs ahead 89-88 with 2:39 to go. After a Pacers miss, LeBron jogged down the court and bullied Roy Hibbert mid-air. He lifted old Hibby’s arm out of the way of his layup and was called for an offensive foul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DOUlPvmF7M

CJ Miles then landed a 3-pointer to get the Pacers ahead again. Kyrie tried to return the trey, but missed and had to settle for getting his own lucky offensive board in traffic, which he kicked to Iman for a corner 3-pointer. Irving’s luck ended the next play. He got glued to a pick at the top of the arc and fell into George Hill. Hill, who had one arm caught up on the pick and Irving, still sunk the three. He topped it off with the follow up free throw. Pacers up, 95-92.

LeBron brought the ball down the court and dribbled. He kept dribbling and refused to stop. He then shot a long three with 56 seconds in the game that missed. Iman, somehow not discouraged by the over dribbling or the three, almost secured the rebound, but CJ Miles ripped it away continuing his excellent play and got fouled. This sent him to the line, and he made both freebies to put the Pacers up by five. In the final thirty seconds, the King turned the ball over after Solomon Hill knocked it away twice, the Good Guys couldn’t get a stop, and they forgot to box out after a missed Indiana free throw. There was no chance to come back, as the Naptown guys kept sinking their free throws. J.R. Smith’s two made 3s in the final seconds didn’t really matter. Cavs lose, 103-99.

Gripes

1. The Cavs took 25 three pointers in the second half and made just six. That’s lunacy. Most of the threes were open, but after missing that many, they probably should have stopped taking them. If you don’t count J.R. Smith’s two last second threes, they made just 4-23. This has to be the result of the team being tired and not wanting to bang down low, since Hibbert and West are so beastly.

2. The Cavs lack of free throws is just more evidence that they didn’t want to get very dirty. They had just 12 tonight and the Pacers had 26.

3. The Wine & Gold helped Indiana out with fast break points. The Pacers typically get just 9.1 transition points per game, and tonight they had 15. This is because the Cavs were sloppy and had 15 turnovers which resulted in 17 total points. The King had seven give aways of his own.

4. Love really struggled going 2-8 for just five points. He had all of his points in the first quarter. Each three he took looked flat and his form was off. It was as if a rod was running down his whole back preventing him from moving comfortably or turning quickly.

Hypes

1. The Cavs were most likely gassed. I can’t find a picture of it, but after LeBron checked out in the second quarter post revving his iso-cannon for eight quick points, he looked beat. His face muscles were literally contorted to point where his cheeks were droopy.

2. The Pacers might be better than previously thought. Having a competent point guard again in George Hill seems to have done wonders for them. They have now won four of their past six games and nine straight home games.

3. The Cavs made Roy Hibbert shoot mid-range jumpers. He shoots fifty percent around the rim, so there was some defensive strategy regarding what Hibbert should be allowed to do coming from David Blatt. He had just one made basket in the paint and took nine mid-range shots.

4. Matty D and Iman Shumpert lineups terrorize opposing back courts. It’s awesome watching those two switch nearly every time the guys they’re covering come close to each other. It has to drive guards crazy not knowing who is going to be on them at any point.

5. The Cavs are running some nifty off ball stuff with Kyrie and Mozgov. In short, when LeBron has the ball, Kyrie will run to the weak side by going above Mozgov. Mozzy sort of sets a pick, but Kyrie doesn’t fully utilize it as he receives the ball. Kyrie’s flirtation with actually using the pick makes his man not necessarily think about negotiating it. Mozzy’s guy, however, generally sees the situation as a pick and tries to help out. This leaves Timo with a free path to the hoop or bends the defense for Kyrie to kick the ball back to the other side. Here’s an example of this play in the first quarter. Timo gets an easy dunk from it.

6. Kyrie delivered 29 points on 13-26 shots with five assists and just one turnover. He played effective defense on George Hill much of the game and did his best to fight through screens. Hill had 20 points, but 12 of them came from free throws.  Unfortunately for Kyrie, Hibbert doesn’t come up high to set screens every single play. Kyrie actually struggles more when guys just move on him not using a screen for some reason. The one blow by Hill had was without a screen.

7. The Cavs fourth quarter defense wasn’t horrendous. CJ Miles can simply go off and two of his threes in the fourth were with Kyrie in front of his eyes. Miles played here, and I remember his heat check nights. He was invincible for short stretches of time.