LeBron James led everyone with 47 points in Tuesday's loss. Ron Hoskins NBAE/Getty Images

On Sunday afternoon at The Q, the Wine and Gold dropped their first home game after running off 23 straight to start the season. And on Tuesday night in Indiana, Cleveland dropped its second straight for only the first time this season. (In that respect, it is a good thing.)

Of course, how the Cavaliers got in that predicament is a story in itself. Tuesday’s ending could have been one of the season’s most thrilling. Instead, it turned out to be one of the season’s most bizarre.

The Cavaliers were in hot water at 1:39 remaining, when Brandon Rush’s putback put the Cavaliers down by six – 93-87. But the Wine and Gold went on a 6-0 burst, capped by Wally Szczerbiak’s baseline runner to tie the game at 93-apiece with 20 ticks remaining.

But with the clock running down, Indy’s T.J. Ford lifted over Mo Williams, splashing home a 17-foot fadeaway to give the Pacers the 95-93 lead with just 0.8 seconds to play. And that’s when things really got interesting.

After a timeout, the Cavaliers took the ball side-out, and on an alley-oop attempt LeBron James was fouled by Danny Granger with 0.4 seconds left. James calmly canned both tosses to tie the game at 95-95.

The Pacers took a timeout of their own, then ran a play similar to the one Cleveland had just run to their own All-Star, but LeBron was whistled attempting to break up the pass to Granger, who stepped to the line and sank the game-winning free-throw with 0.1 second to play.

Lost in the strange ending of the 96-95 loss was LeBron’s performance – netting a game-high 47 points, going 15-for-21 from the floor and 13-for-14 from the stripe. James added seven boards four assists, a steal and a blocked shot. He was 4-of-7 from three-point range, including a bomb with just over two minutes to play that cut a seven-point Pacers lead to four.

“You work hard every day to try to put yourself in position to win ballgames,” lamented James. “You always want players to have the outcome of the game. I just felt tonight the players didn’t have the outcome of the game.”

Mo Williams, fresh off the news of his first All-Star bid, followed up with 15 points on 7-for-18 shooting. Williams grabbed six boards, but didn’t register an assist on the evening. Zydrunas Ilgauskas rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

The Cavaliers close out the unofficial first half of the season on Wednesday night, when they return to The Q for the second-half of the back-to-back against Steve Nash and the Suns.

2. Well, at least Coach Mike Brown realizes he’s going to get his wallet lightened on Wednesday. The Eastern Conference All-Star coach was as livid as he’s ever been – at least regarding the referees. His comments say it all.

“(On the last call) I went back and I watched the last two plays,” said Brown. “That last call on LeBron was the worst call that I’ve ever been a part of. It was an awful call and for him to take away a basketball game from a team with .04 seconds on the clock is irresponsible. We got the game taken away from us. If they want to fine me for telling the truth, then fine me.”

3. Also lost in the excitement of the confounding ending and competitive contest was that hours before tip-off, Cavaliers guard Mo Williams was finally selected as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star squad. Williams – who came into Tuesday’s game averaging 17.1 ppg – will make the trip as a replacement for Toronto’s Chris Bosh, who injured his right knee against the Lakers.

4. With the dramatic win, the Pacers snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Cavaliers that extends back to November 24, 2006.

5. Even with the loss, the Cavaliers have still only dropped two of their last seven road contests and, at 16-10, have the fifth-best road record in the NBA.

6. With 7:26 remaining in the third quarter, LeBron James crushed a T.J. Ford offering at the rim. It’s the third time this year that No. 23 has stalked Ford from behind only to swat his shot attempt. His big come-from-behind block on Ford helped preserve a 111-107 win on November 7 at The Q.

7. Zydrunas Ilgauskas notched his second double-double since returning from a left ankle sprain that kept him out of the Cavs’ lineup for 13 straight. In the six games since his return, Cleveland is 4-2 and Big Z’s averaging 14.3 points and 9.1 boards per contest.

8. Cavaliers rookie Darnell Jackson made the most out of his one-game trip to Erie – the Cavaliers’ NBDL affiliate. The second-rounder was assigned to the BayHawks on Monday, tallied 24 points and six rebounds in just 26 minutes in a 102-89 win over the Utah Flash, and – with the Cavaliers semi-depleted with injuries – was back in the wine and gold on Tuesday night in Indy.

9. The Cavaliers had gone 49 games without losing two straight games – the deepest Cleveland’s ever gone into a season without consecutive losses. The last team in the NBA to go at least 49 games without consecutive losses was the 1994-95 Phoenix Suns, whose first losing streak of two games or more began in their 52nd game. The deepest into a season an NBA team has ever gone without losing two straight games is 74 games by the 1984-85 Boston Celtics.

10. In attendance at Tuesday night’s game was baseball icon, Pete Rose, and new Indianapolis Colts head coach, Jim Caldwell.