Cavs Come Back Early, Exum Seals Deal Late

It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Saturday night’s thriller, but the Cavalier will take it – improving to 2-0 in the preseason, overcoming a big early deficit and surging past the Pacers, 116-106, on Monday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

With many of the starters for both squads getting the evening off – and those who did relinquishing time to some youngsters looking to earn a roster spot – the Wine & Gold outscored Indy by eight in the final period to seal the deal.

Cleveland closed out that fourth quarter with Levi Randolph, Matt Mooney, Damyean Dotson, Lamar Stevens and Dante Exum on the floor – and Exum, for the second straight game, helped secure the victory late.

The Aussie import led all scorers on Monday, netting 15 of his 23 points in the fourth – going 7-for-11 from the floor overall, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 from the stripe, adding a team-high five assists, four boards and a steal.

The Cavaliers trailed by as many as 20 points in the opening quarter, but came back to close the period down only three – 35-32. The Wine & Gold outscored the Pacers by three in the second, went into the second half tied and pulled away down the stretch.

With Kevin Love, Cedi Osman and Collin Sexton getting the night off for Cleveland, Andre Drummond helped pick up the slack – doubling-up with 17 points and a game-high 11 boards in just 23 minutes of work.

Darius Garland had another solid outing, finishing with 17 points of his own – going 7-for-15 from the floor, adding four boards, two assists and three steals. Garland still has some rust to shake off, though, committing six miscues on the night.

Isaac Okoro, the hero of Saturday’s last-second victory over the Pacers, played well again – chipping with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, going 6-of-10 from the stripe, adding three boards and four assists to lead all starters.

Damyean Dotson, getting the start in pace of the Young Bull, rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 10 points, six boards and a pair of assists.

Andre Drummond turns defense into offense at the end of the first quarter! He gets the steal then launches a long three ball that goes in as the first quarter clock expires.

It’s rare for a game’s turning point to come in the opening quarter, but that’s when the Cavaliers converted what could have been a blowout into a competitive game for the rest of the night.

Trailing by 20 points – 26-6 – midway through the first quarter, the Cavaliers mounted their early comeback behind their two ‘rookies’ – Isaac Okoro and Dylan Windler – the Cavaliers close the quarter on a 26-9 run to get themselves back in the ballgame.

16.5, .625, .600 … Isaac Okoro’s scoring average and shooting percentage from the floor (10-for-16) and beyond the arc (3-of-5) through the first two preseason games.

Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Mike Snyder and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.

After dropping Indiana in back-to-back contests to start the preseason, the Cavaliers will play a two-game set against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday and Friday nights to end it.

The regular season tips off one week from Wednesday when the Wine & Gold welcome LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.