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Pacers Snap Cool-Shooting Cavs' Streak in Indy

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Wrap-Up -- If there’s one visiting gym in the Eastern Conference that the Cavaliers would’ve liked to avoid when trying to set a franchise record for consecutive wins, it’d be Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana.

But that was the game on the schedule, and for the 13th time in their last 15 visits to Indy the Pacers got the best of Cleveland – this time snapping the Wine & Gold’s 13-game win streak, taking the 106-102 decision on Friday night.

The Cavaliers, who hadn’t lost since November 9, led at intermission, but managed only 39 points in the second half – hitting just six field goals in the final period – as they also fell one win shy of setting the franchise road mark of eight straight.

Cleveland was looking to avenge an embarrassing 17-point home loss to Indy earlier this season at The Q, but the Pacers jumped all over Tyronn Lue’s squad early – running out to a 13-2 advantage. The Cavs bounced back and led through most of the third quarter, but the Pacers closed the period on a 13-5 run and both teams struggled to find any rhythm in the fourth.

LeBron James led Cleveland with 29 points, going 12-for-22 from the floor, and led both teams with 10 boards and eight assists, adding two blocked shots and a steal.

James and JR Smith were the only two Cavaliers to score in the final period.

Swish chipped in with 15 points, going 5-of-10 from long-range and 5-of-12 from the floor overall – adding five boards and a steal. The 14-year vet canned three of his five triples in the fourth quarter, but three of his misses in the period came in succession, with the Wine & Gold trying to overcome Indy’s slight edge in the final 1:35.

Kevin Love finished with 20 points and seven boards in the loss – going 6-for-16 from the floor and 6-of-10 from the stripe.

The Cavaliers bench, which had topped the 40-point mark in all four of the previous games, was largely ineffective on Friday – combining for 23 points, with Dwyane Wade leading the way with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.

The Pacers were led by Victor Oladipo, who’s had a career rebirth in his first season back in the state of Indiana – scoring 20 of his game-high 33 points in the third quarter, going 7-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from deep in the period, 11-of-24 and 6-of-13 overall.

Kevin Love

LeBron tallies near triple-double as the Cavs win streak comes to an end.

The Wine & Gold were solid inside on Friday night – besting the Pacers in the paint, 40-30, and in second-chance scoring, 15-8. But Indiana outran Cleveland on the break, 19-4, and drilled 15 triples on the evening.

Turning Point -- The Cavaliers haven’t been plagued by a third quarter funk in quite some time, but it reared its ugly head on Friday night in Indianapolis.

Cleveland overcame a slow start and took a six-point lead into the halftime locker room. But they came out cold for the second stanza – missing their first three shots of the half while Oladipo and Bogdan Bogdanovic hit back-to-back threes to tie the game at 63-apiece.

The Cavs would claw back to regain a six-point edge, but the Pacers closed the quarter strong and the Wine & Gold – which connected on just seven field goals in the third quarter – would hit only six in the final period, spelling the end of the NBA’s longest current win streak.

By the Numbers.579 … LeBron James’ shooting percentage during his current run of 13 straight games shooting better than 50 percent from the floor – shooting 46 percent from long-range and 70 percent from the stripe over that stretch.

QuotableKevin Love, on Cleveland’s streak being snapped on Friday in Indiana …

”It was a hard-fought game tonight; both teams played well in different stretches. (Indiana) just made some bigger plays down the stretch. We missed some shots – and made some big ones to keep us right in it. Some things were uncharacteristic for us tonight. We missed a couple opportunities that we could’ve converted on, but you have to tip your hat to them. They played hard and they play well at home..”

Up Next -- After having their extended run snapped on Friday night, the Cavaliers return home on Saturday to face off against Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and the Sixers at The Q – tipping off a nice four-game homestand before the squad hits a rough road patch later this month. On Tuesday night, the Hawks visit Cleveland for the second time this season, followed by a Saturday night date with the Jazz. The following Sunday, the Cavs travel to D.C. for an early-evening showdown with the Wizards – the first of five road games to close out the month of December.

Calls of the Game