Pacers-Cavaliers Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Feb 15 2012 1:16PM

After missing three games with a concussion, rookie sensation Kyrie Irving is ready to play.

Irving will be back Wednesday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers look to end a six-game losing streak to the Indiana Pacers, who have dropped four straight and likely will be without leading scorer Danny Granger.

The NBA's rookie scoring leader at 18.0 points per game, Irving has been out since he was inadvertently kneed in the head by Heat superstar Dwyane Wade during a 107-91 loss Feb. 7.

Irving made it through a complete practice Tuesday and was cleared to play by team and league doctors in the first high-profile case under the NBA's new guidelines on concussions.

"I'm back to 100 percent," Irving said following the team's Wednesday morning shootaround. "It feels good to get back out there."

Cleveland (10-16) won its first game without Irving before losing the next two as part of this franchise-record nine-game homestand. Ramon Sessions averaged 18.3 points and 12.3 assists while starting for Irving, but he'll be coming off the bench again Wednesday.

"Young fella looked good," Sessions said Tuesday. "He's getting back in the groove. He looked back to normal, and we're happy to have him back. He's a key part of this team."

Irving's return certainly made coach Byron Scott happy.

"It's good to have him back, no doubt about that," Scott said. "The only thing I'm thinking is he probably won't ever complain of a headache again."

Irving's third pro game was a bit of a breakthrough in a 98-91 overtime loss at Indiana (17-11) on Dec. 30. The 19-year-old guard recorded his first 20-point effort, although he missed a potential winning layup near the end of regulation.

Granger scored nine of his 22 points in overtime to lead the Pacers, who were one of the league's most improved teams before this losing streak. Scott is using them as a model for his club since he believes Indiana's success is a product of falling in five games to top-seeded Chicago in last year's postseason.

"Once a team gets a taste of the playoffs like they did last year even though they lost in the first round, that experience - you come back the next year hungrier," Scott said. "That's why I don't understand why people say we should lose games. Because I think with the young team we have, if we get to the eighth spot, that's great."

Indiana, playing the middle game of three in three nights, is enduring its longest slide since a six-game skid March 2-11. The Pacers trailed by as many as 35 points in Tuesday's 105-90 home loss to Miami.

"Pretty embarrassing," center Roy Hibbert said. "They just hit us at the start and we just weren't able to recover. ... None of us came ready to play tonight."

To make matters worse, Granger left with a sprained left ankle late in the first quarter and did not return, finishing with a season-low three points. He isn't likely to play Wednesday.

"Yeah, that's my anticipation," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I don't think he can play (at Cleveland)."

Irving scores 22 to push Cavs past Pacers 98-87

By TOM WITHERS
Posted Feb 15 2012 11:31PM

CLEVELAND (AP) At his first opportunity, Kyrie Irving lowered his shoulder and dribbled hard toward the basket, unafraid of injury or other consequences.

When he neared the rim, the Cavaliers guard laid in his first basket in more than a week.

The concussion was behind him. The rookie was back.

Irving scored 22 points in his return after missing three games with a concussion, leading Cleveland to a 98-87 win Wednesday night over the reeling Indiana Pacers, who dropped their fifth straight and played without leading scorer Danny Granger.

On the floor for the first time since Feb. 7, when he accidentally banged his head into the knee of Miami's Dwyane Wade following a foul-lane collision, Irving picked up right where he left off before getting hurt.

"Kyrie didn't look like he missed a beat," said Cavs coach Byron Scott, who played his young star 37 minutes. "He didn't look like he missed (seven) days. He looked fresh and rejuvenated."

Scott wasn't shocked Irving would announce his return with an assertive move.

"We've all known since Day 1 he has no fear," Scott said. "It wasn't a surprise to me that his first shot was going to be an aggressive one. It was good to see him back out there on the floor playing the way he's capable of playing."

The 19-year-old was only cleared to play in the morning by Cavs doctors, who had to follow the NBA's new guidelines on head injuries during his recovery.

While others may have viewed his first basket as a message, Irving said there was no hidden intent other than to score two points.

"I'm 100 percent," he said. "Just because I had a concussion, it doesn't mean my game is going to change in any way. I'll play with the same aggressiveness. I've gone through the season attacking the basket."

Irving made the Cavs more complete, but they're still without center Anderson Varejao, sidelined indefinitely with a broken wrist. Semih Erden started for Varejao and scored a career-high 18 points.

Darren Collison scored 18 and Roy Hibbert 17 for Indiana, which was without Granger, who sprained his left ankle during Tuesday night's loss to Miami. Dahntay Jones had only three points as Granger's replacement, and none of the other Pacers picked up the slack.

Indiana is 2-6 in its last eight - seven of them against teams with winning records.

"It's not an excuse, but I think guys are worn down," coach Frank Vogel said. "It's been a tough stretch of the schedule against a string of good teams and we've had a slew of injuries. It's just something that will come back around."

Irving said he felt fully recovered and was excited to be back on the floor.

And it showed.

The young star went 5 of 6 and scored 12 points in the first quarter, when he added two assists and two rebounds while helping the Cavs jump to an early double-digit lead. Irving's legs were lively from the week off, and as much as it pained him to have to sit out, the No. 1 overall draft pick believes the rest helped.

Irving didn't score in the second quarter, but he added eight points in the third - making a pair of 3-pointers - to help the Cavs, who led by 12 after one and 18 at halftime, keep the Pacers at bay.

Cleveland took an 18-point lead into the fourth, but with Irving on the bench, the Cavs became disjointed on offense and didn't score for the first 5:07 of the quarter.

Ramon Sessions finally ended the drought with a three-point play to make it 82-67 with 6:53 left, and Indiana only got as close as nine points in the final minute.

Scott had been hoping one of Cleveland's big men would step up with Varejao out, and the 7-foot Erden came through. He won't be able to duplicate Varejao's boundless energy, but Erden added eight rebounds and did a solid defensive job inside on Hibbert.

"He was more aggressive on both ends of the floor," Scott said. "I thought he was a little more comfortable."

It didn't all go as planned for the Cavs.

Guard Daniel Gibson injured his left ankle in the third quarter, when he came down on Indiana guard Paul George's foot. Gibson stayed down on the floor for several minutes in obvious pain before he was helped up and limped to the locker room. Gibson did not return and it may be a few days before he's back.

"It's frustrating," Gibson said. "It hurts badly. I've had this before. Hopefully I can heal quicker from it."

There's no telling when the Pacers will recover.

One of the NBA's surprise teams to start the season, Indiana, in the middle of a three-games-in-three-nights stretch, has hit its first extended slump.

"Good teams don't lose this many games in a row," David West said. "Right now we can't call ourselves that. We're not playing good enough to be a good team. We just don't have enough resistance. We're letting teams dictate what they want to do offensively. I don't know if we're hoping teams come out and play bad.

"We're going to have to dig deep and find a way to get out of this."

Granger, who sprained his ankle in the final seconds of the first quarter Tuesday against Miami, warmed up on the floor before the game but was obviously uncomfortable. Granger winced several times while trying to make cuts. However, the Pacers' medical staff was encouraged by his progress and it's possible he'll play Thursday against New Jersey.

Notes: As if being clobbered by the Heat wasn't bad enough, the Pacers arrived at their Cleveland hotel to find Miami's team was also staying at the Ritz-Carlton. Vogel joked they deserved it. "Take that," he said. "You don't play well, you've got to stay with those guys." LeBron James and Co. play the Cavs on Friday. ...Cleveland snapped its six-game losing streak to Indiana. ... The Cavs have yet to provide a timetable on Varejao's return. He sat on the bench with a brace on his wrist.

Notebook: Cavaliers 98, Pacers 87

Posted Thursday February 16, 2012 12:27AM

By Brian Dulik, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Rookie point guard Kyrie Irving collected game highs of 22 points and five assists in his return from a concussion, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 98-87 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Center Semih Erden scored a career-best 18 points with eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who never trailed in the home triumph. Point guard Darren Collison had 18 points and center Roy Hibbert added 17 for the Pacers, who lost their season-high fifth straight contest. Indiana played without small forward Danny Granger, who was a late scratch with a sprained left ankle.

QUOTABLE: "Just because I had a concussion, my game wasn't going to change. I was still going to be aggressive and attack the basket. But I did kind of limit myself from going in the paint for rebounds, quite honestly, because I didn't want to go in there with all the tall trees."
-- Irving

THE STAT: Pacers small forward Dahntay Jones started in Granger's spot, but only made 1-of-8 field goal attempts and scored three points in 37 minutes. Jones also was victimized by Cavaliers counterpart Omri Casspi, who had 10 points and a season-high nine rebounds. "I don't think (the way we're playing) has anything to do with injuries, it's just a matter of us being able to focus," Collison said. Indiana coach Frank Vogel said Granger was "a possibility" to play Thursday at home against New Jersey.

TURNING POINT: Erden and Casspi accounted for the Cavaliers' first seven points, showing no fear in going right at Hibbert and Jones. Irving also asserted himself with 12 points in the opening quarter as the Cavaliers sprinted out to a 32-20 lead. "Because they had a four-game losing streak, we tried to get on them early and jump on them from the start," Cleveland point guard Ramon Sessions said. The Cavaliers would take three 21-point leads in the second quarter before coasting home with the double-digit triumph.

QUOTABLE II: "I feel great. I'm happy because this was one of the first (big) games for me. It's not easy. I tried to do my job, and I did. I want to keep working hard, and just want to be a good teammate."
-- Cavaliers' Erden

HOT: Top overall draft pick Irving was 8-of-12 from the field and tied his NBA high with three 3-pointers. He had sat out the Cavaliers' three previous contests after being accidentally kneed in the head by Heat shooting guard Dwayne Wade on Feb 7 in Miami. ... Erden made 7-of-8 shots, all in the paint and most coming off pick-and-rolls. "Getting Semih going definitely was a conscious decision for us tonight," Irving said. ... Sessions was perfect on five field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, and one free throw. ... Pacers point guard A.J. Price had 11 points, two assists and no turnovers in 21 minutes off the bench.

NOT: Pacers power forward David West and Jones combined to go 2-of-18 from the floor in the first half, while shooting guard Paul George started and did not score until 1:10 was left in the third quarter. ... Hibbert only grabbed one defensive rebound in 33 minutes. "I know he is a good player and he's an All-Star, but I just tried to play hard and hustle," Erden said. ... Indiana had two assists in the first half. ... Tyler Hansbrough was held without a basket and committed five fouls in 20 minutes. ... Cavaliers power forward Antawn Jamison missed all six of his 3-pointers, while swingman Alonzo Gee was 0-of-4 beyond the arc.

QUOTABLE III: "Give credit to Cleveland for playing a better game than we did tonight. Kyrie Irving was terrific. We didn't guard the three well enough, and we didn't execute well enough offensively to get the win."
-- Pacers coach Frank Vogel

GOOD MOVE: Though the Cavaliers signed NBA D-League guard Ben Uzoh after Irving was injured, coach Byron Scott said before the game they were considering keeping the second-year pro around longer than his current 10-day contract. In the third quarter against Indiana, shooting guard Daniel Gibson suffered a sprained left ankle when he landed on George's foot while attempting a 3-pointer -- immediately moving Uzoh back up one spot on Cleveland's depth chart.

BAD MOVE: In a humorous coincidence, the Pacers and Heat both spent Tuesday night in the same downtown Cleveland hotel. Miami defeated Indiana 105-90 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, then both teams boarded a plane to Ohio for their next game. "If you don't play well, you've got to stay with that team," Vogel quipped. "No, actually, we had no idea until we got there." The Heat are off until Friday, when it plays the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

NOTABLE: West finished strong to record his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. ... Indiana only had 10 players in uniform as it played the second contest of a three-games-in-three-nights set. ... Power forward Lou Amundson contributed half of the Pacers' six blocked shots. ... The Cavaliers are 2-2 on their ongoing nine-game homestand, which equals the third-longest run in NBA history. ... Cleveland took an 82-81 lead in the all-time series.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Thursday vs. New Jersey, Sunday vs. Charlotte, Tuesday vs. New Orleans. For the Cavaliers, Friday vs. Miami, Sunday vs. Sacramento, Tuesday vs. Detroit.

• Pacers: --
• Cavaliers: Parker, Varejao

• Pacers: --
• Cavaliers: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #45 Brian Forte, #67 Matt Myers
• Attendance: 12712
• Duration: 2:16