The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Indiana Pacers looking for a 6th straight win of the season. It was difficult but they pulled it off, winning 101-97 this despite Paul George and Monta Ellis scoring big.
This was billed the LeBron James v Paul George show and for a large portion of the game it was. Indiana kept this a very close game as David Blatt struggled for answers as to how to keep George quiet. It was thrilling from the get-go as neither team was able to get the better of the other to build a big lead. The crowd at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland were treated to a close one.
LeBron went into the game recovering from a quad injury and he didn’t show any sign of discomfort as he scored 29 points, he also pulled in 6 rebounds. The Pacers were really impressive despite their 3-3 record going into this one.
The Cavaliers’ hero of the game though was Kevin Love. He was massive on the boards pulling down 19 rebounds with 4 on the offensive end. He also poured in 22 points, crucially a couple of clutch baskets down the stretch.
Paul George was in the zone again he scored a game-high 31 points, he also had 11 rebounds and 5 assists. He was ably assisted by Monta Ellis who dropped 25 points, his high score in a Pacers uniform. In the end, despite keeping it a very close contest, the Pacers fell off the pace as the game wore on. Some impressive plays from the Cavaliers closed out the contest with Love central to their scoring for some crucial last second points.
This was the Kevin Love of old who would get the ball late in games and produce under pressure. James has said that he wants to be more of a team man as games wind down and he was that. A special pass found Love for a basket that essentially gave them the win with under 20 seconds of the game left to play.
The Cavs’ supporting cast must be mentioned as well in this win. With Matthew Dellavedova dishing out assists and scoring crucial buckets, Tristan Thompson adding 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while Mo Williams contributed 10 points with 8 assists.
The only worry for Blatt would be that his side couldn’t shut up shop on defense late in the game, especially with LeBron taking a breather. The Paul George factor would have been a huge contributor to the Pacers resilience. In the end it was a sixth straight win for the Cavaliers who are looking like a well-oiled machine.
