The Cavaliers got the win they needed in Game 2 against the Pacers but it may not have been the way they wanted. It took every bit of LeBron James for the Cavs to squeak by this pesky Pacers team. James started the game by scoring 16 straight points before the Pacers even scored a field goal.
To make things worse for the Pacers, Victor Oladipo picked up two fouls within the first two minutes of the game, sending him to the bench for most of the first quarter. It seemed as if the Pacers were going to be run out of the entire building.
But they weren’t.
In fact, the Pacers continued to climb back into the game time after time, so close in fact that with under a minute to go, Oladipo had a chance to tie the game at 97 a piece on a wide open three-pointer. As James said after the game, the Cavaliers got lucky with that Oladipo miss. That’s a shot he’s hit all season.
Cleveland exhausted every part of LeBron James to win this game. While at times their defense seemed to pick up and their shots would fall, they couldn’t shake the Pacers. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds for two games in Indiana.
Cavs 100, Pacers 97 - Final
WHEW. A last second Oladipo three-pointer turned this into a three-point game at the end. This is shaping up to be a great series. LeBron James finished with 46 points, 12 rebounds,
Cavs 97, Pacers 92 - :22.2 4Q
The Pacers had a chance to tie the game at 95 on a wide-open Victor Oladipo three-pointer that absolutely looked like it was going in. It didn’t. LeBron has 44 points and has still been unbelievable this game.
Cavs 90, Pacers 86 - 3:34 4Q
This isn’t over yet, folks.
Cavs 83, Pacers 76 - 8:50 4Q
The Pacers got within four points but then Kevin Love hit a three-pointer to kill all momentum. It’s a perfect representation of how this game has gone after LeBron’s 16 points to start the game.
Cavs 74, Pacers 67 - End of 3Q
The fact the Pacers are able to hang around during this monstrous LeBron performance has been a testament to their team. James had 35 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists with 12 minutes to go.
Cavs 68, Pacers 58 - 6:35 3Q
The Cavs are able to keep the Pacers at a distance throughout with plays like this steal from Kyle Korver.
The Indiana Pacers dominated Game 1 of their playoff matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. Victor Oladipo was stellar in the 98-80 blowout, flashing the improved shooting and all-around game that may earn him the Most Improved Player of the Year nod. He had 32 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals, outplaying LeBron James on his home court. Indiana has a chance to take control of this series on Wednesday night when they play a second game in Cleveland at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.
It’s hard to ask for much more from James in Game 2, after he dropped a triple-double with 24 points on 17 shots, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the teams’ first meeting. But aside from J.R. Smith’s 15-point outing, the rest of the Cavs were flat. The team shot 24 percent from three-point range, and 39 percent from the field. It’s clear that Cleveland, which had a major roster shakeup two months ago, isn’t settled.
”I think we spent so much time trying to figure out who we were in the regular season,” James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, “and getting the right lineups and guys in and out and things of that nature, we could never build for the playoffs. It was kind of like, build for the next game. So the postseason finally hit us and it hit us very well. And I think that can be the best teacher for us to know exactly what we should be ready for tonight.”
The Cavs will need more from Jeff Green, who went scoreless in 27 minutes in Game 1, and better than 2-of-12 three-point production from George Hill, Rodney Hood, Kyle Korver and Jordan Clarkson. They’ll also need to slow down Oladipo, the clear catalyst of everything this Pacers team does.