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Key: Grand Central
After wrapping up a pair of three-game homestands, the Wine & Gold hit the month for six of the last seven games in 2018, beginning with Tuesday night’s Central Division showdown in Indianapolis. It won’t be easy, taking on a red-hot Pacers squad that’s riding a seven-game win streak and recently climbed within a half-game of the Bucks for the Central’s top spot.
The Cavaliers are coming off a tough Sunday afternoon loss to the Sixers at The Q in which Philly’s starters outscored the Cavs’ first five, 90-55 – using a 39-point fourth quarter to avenge an earlier upset by Cleveland in the City of Brotherly Love.
Coach Drew used his 12th different starting lineup as the Wine & Gold continue to battle the injury bug just as the road schedule begins to heat up.
The Pacers got four games into their seven-game run with Victor Oladipo on the bench nursing a sore knee. The league’s reigning Most Improved Player has been back in action over the past three games and suddenly Indiana is the hottest team in the NBA.
The Pacers dropped the Cavs by a dozen earlier this season at The Q despite Cleveland’s bench combining for 54 points.
The Cavaliers might need all that again – plus some solid contributions from their starters – to avenge that November loss tonight in Indy.
Key: Happy Returns
The Cavaliers got a firsthand look at exactly how improved Victor Oladipo was last year as the Pacers tormented the Cavaliers all season long – taking three of four regular season contests and taking the eventual Eastern Conference champs to seven games in a dragged-out affair before finally tapping-out at The Q.
The former Hoosier was right back to his old tricks earlier this season before a knee injury sidelined him for 11 games before returning to face the Bucks two weeks ago. It took him two games to get his rhythm, but he looked like his explosive self in the Pacers’ recent win over the Knicks – finishing with 26 points, eight boards, seven assists and a season-high five steals.
In Indiana’s early-season win over the Wine & Gold, Oladipo finished with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting to lead a balanced Pacers attack.
Rodney Hood will probably draw that starting assignment on Tuesday night – and he’ll have to make one of the game’s top two-way players work on both ends.
Hood has been steady all year and even better over his last three outings – averaging 18.3 points on 57 percent shooting from the floor over that span.
Key: Confidence Game
Thaddeus Young has been one of the league’s best under-the-radar players for the better part of a dozen seasons – averaging double-figure scoring in 11 straight years after his rookie campaign.
And while the former No. 12 overall pick of the 2007 Draft has been his usual solid self for most of the season, he’s been out of this world of late – being named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week after averaging 18.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.8 steals to lead Indy to a perfect 4-0 mark. Young posted three double-doubles over that span while shooting 56 percent from the floor.
Young has tallied double-digits in 13 of his last 15 games against the Wine & Gold – including a quiet 10-point performance on 5-of-8 shooting in the Pacers’ late-October victory at The Q.
If Larry Drew goes with the same starting lineup as he did on Sunday afternoon, Cedi Osman will get the start against Young.
Osman had struggled mightily from the floor before finding his rhythm against Philly – going 6-of-10 from the floor for 18 points after tallying single figures on 23 percent shooting in his previous three outings.
Like Young, he finished with 10 points in the opening meeting between these two teams in October. The Cavaliers would love to see their young sophomore build on Sunday’s performance and get his confidence back on track heading into a rough road stretch.
Key: Bench Boost
There’s no way around it – for much of the season, the Cavaliers bench has been just as good or better than the starters. That was definitely the case on Sunday afternoon, with the Wine & Gold’s reserves topping the 50-point mark for the fourth consecutive game and 10th time this season.
So far this year, the Cleveland’s second unit is averaging 43.6 ppg – good for sixth in the Association.
In Sunday’s loss to the Sixers, Jordan Clarkson notched double-figures for the 26th time in 30 games this year (good for second among all NBA reserves) -- finishing with 18 points, a team-best six boards and four assists – and is averaging 16.7 ppg this year, which is fourth-best among all reserves.
Matthew Dellavedova notched double-figures in his fourth straight game in his reunion tour with the Wine & Gold – finishing with 13 points, going 5-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to go with a team-best seven assists.
Larry Nance Jr. posted another solid floor game – finishing with seven points, six assists and four boards off the bench – and is averaging 10.7 points, 7.6 boards and 4.3 assists since December 5. In the first meeting against Indiana, Nance notched his first double-double of the campaign, finishing with 15 points and a game-high 12 boards.
The Pacers main weapon off the bench is Domantas Sabonis, who comes into the contest averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage in his second season with Indiana.
Key: Guard Duty
When the Cavaliers were ready to take the court for morning shootaround on Tuesday, Darren Collison was in the gym getting up jumpers – trying to snap out of a recent funk.
But Collison hasn’t been himself all season – averaging single-digits for the first time in his career, shooting just under 44 percent from the floor and topping the 20-point plateau just once all year (after doing so three times last year against Cleveland alone).
Last year, Collison led the NBA with a .468 mark from beyond the arc, but he’s at .362 through the first 30 contests this year.
He’ll have his work cut out for him on Tuesday night – taking on the Young Bull, who bounced back on Sunday afternoon after a rough Friday night effort against the Bucks.
On Sunday afternoon, Collin Sexton, got back into double-digit scoring, finishing with 12 points on 6-for-13 shooting.
The former Alabama starter has now tallied double-figures in 25 contests (second among all rookies) and has done so in 19 of his 20 starts. In those 20 outings, Sexton is averaging 17.7 points, shooting 43 percent from three-point range to go with 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per.
With Kemba Walker and Kyle Lowry waiting in the wings, the rookie would love to get the three-gamer off to a solid start on Tuesday.