Pacers Pull Away Late, Drop Cavs

Monday’s loss was a combination of two issues that have plagued the Cavs all season – the third-quarter blues and running out of gas down the stretch due to a shortage of healthy bodies.

Both bit Cleveland after intermission against a Pacers team also battling the injury bug – with Indy limiting the Wine & Gold to just 17 points in the third period and closed the contest on a 20-11 run, pulling away for the 111-102 win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Utilizing just eight players on Monday, J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad went toe-to-toe with their Central Division rivals – with 13 lead-changes through the first three quarters.

Cleveland tied the game at 91-apiece midway through the fourth, but Indiana pulled away from there to hand the Cavs their 11th straight defeat with just three games remaining.

Despite the loss, several Cavaliers posted strong individual performances – including the first career double-doubles for both Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade.

Collin Sexton led the Wine & Gold with 25 points, but was limited to just six of those after halftime, going 7-for-26 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the stripe, adding five boards and a team-best eight assists.

Dean Wade, getting the start in place of Kevin Love – who along with Cedi Osman and Darius Garland were out for Monday��s contest – followed up with 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-8 from deep, adding a team- and career-high 12 rebounds, two assists and a game-high three steals.

Isaac Okoro continued his late-season surge, adding 22 points and a career-best 10 boards, going 8-of-20 from the floor to go with four assists and a steal in the loss.

Jarrett Allen rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 12 points and nine boards, going 4-of-6 from the floor, adding three assists and a blocked shot.

The Pacers were also down some key rotation players, but two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis picked up the slack – finishing with 21 points, 20 boards and nine assists – adding two steals and a game-high four swats.

On the night, the Pacers rejected 13 shots to two for the Cavs. Indiana shot an even 50 percent from the floor and handed out 32 assists on 44 made baskets. Kelan Martin came off Indy’s bench to tally a career-high 25 points.

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Dean Wade fires an outlet pass to Collin Sexton who catches and dunks with one hand on the fast break in the second quarter.

The Pacers held Cleveland to just 21 percent shooting in the third quarter – rejecting eight Cavalier offerings in the period and shooting an even 50 percent from the floor and beyond the arc.

But Monday’s contest was decided down the stretch – and the Wine & Gold just didn’t have enough in the tank to close it out.

With 6:25 to play in regulation, Isaac Okoro’s layup tied the contest at 91-apiece. But Kelan Martin and Caris LeVert triggered a 14-4 run over the next four minutes to put the Pacers up double-digits.

The Cavs would cut Indy’s lead to five twice more in the final two minutes, but could get no closer from there.

By the Numbers - 15.4 … points per game that rookie Isaac Okoro is averaging over his last 10 games, notching double-figure scoring in nine of them – topping the 20-point plateau twice and netting a career-high 32 in an overtime loss to Phoenix.

Over that stretch, the former Auburn standout is shooting 43 percent from the floor, averaging 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff, praising his team’s effort on Monday night …

"Every ounce of scrap, fight, energy that they had, they laid it on the line. To their credit of their character, they gave us everything they had tonight. We just came up a little short. To go out there as shorthanded as we were, it would have been easy to take a night off after the back-to-back. But they figured out a way to find it."

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

The Wine Gold have just one more home game remaining – welcoming the Celtics to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday night.

From there, Cleveland closes out the campaign with two on the road – traveling to the nation’s capital for a Friday night showdown against Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal and the Wizards before wrapping up the 2020-21 season on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn.