Game Rewind: Pacers 92, Cavaliers 95

The Pacers (30-38) battled hard on Friday night in Cleveland, but LeBron James and the Cavaliers (45-26) held on for a 95-92 victory. Indiana has now dropped four straight games after winning seven straight earlier this month.

With the win, the Cavaliers clinched a playoff berth. They have now won 15 straight games within the friendly confines of Quicken Loans Arena.

The Blue & Gold gave it their all in a wild fourth quarter that featured four ties and eight lead changes. The Pacers repeatedly surged in front, but each time James seemed to make a play on the other end. The four-time MVP scored 11 straight points for Cleveland down the stretch.

"I liked the way we played," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said after the loss. "I liked the way we guarded, I liked the way we shared the basketball, I liked our competitive spirit. We just got undone by a great performance by the best player in the game."

After James' layup broke an 89-89 tie, C.J. Miles buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Pacers a 92-91 lead with 2:22 to play. But James responded with a one-handed floater on the ensuing possession to put the Cavs back in front.

The Pacers had three possessions in the final two minutes and had six shots that could have given them the lead, but couldn't get any of them to fall.

After James missed a long 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock, Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert corralled the offensive rebound and found teammate J.R. Smith, who was fouled with one second left. Smith hit both free throws to extend the Cavs' lead to three points.

After a timeout, C.J. Miles got off a long 3-pointer before the buzzer, but it came up well short.

"We were so close," Pacers forward Luis Scola said after the game. "This was going to be a great win for us. But it’s encouraging. If we play this way, we’re going to win a lot of games and we’re going to be in the playoffs."

George Hill scored 14 of his team-high 24 points in the third quarter. The Pacers' point guard made 9-of-15 shots on the night, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

Roy Hibbert also had a strong night for Indiana, finishing with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The Big Dawg also collected eight rebounds on the evening.

Hibbert's post partner David West left the game early in the second half due to illness. West finished with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting in 12:21. Scola stepped up in West's absence, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

James led all scorers with 29 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. James was 13-for-26 from the field and scored 13 total points in the final quarter.

"I thought we made most of his shots really tough shots," Vogel said. "That's all you can ask."

Kyrie Irving added 13 points for Cleveland, while Timofey Mozgov finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

There won't be much time for the Pacers to rest, as they return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday night to host the Brooklyn Nets.

Friday was the fifth game this season in which Hibbert scored 20 or more points and the first such occasion since he had 22 points in a win on Jan. 5 in Utah. Hibbert has now scored in double figures in three straight contests, averaging 16.3 points over that span. Hibbert scored just 16 total points in his last four contests prior to this stretch.

Scola recorded his third double-double in his last six games on Friday. The Argentinian led a bench unit that outscored Cleveland's reserves 36-19. C.J. Watson added nine points, five rebounds, and five assists as part of the second unit.

Indiana lost the battle of the boards for the fourth straight game. Cleveland outrebounded the visitors 45-42 on the night. The Pacers are now 7-20 on the season when they are outrebounded by their opponents.

The box score was remarkably even. Both teams shot 43 percent from the field and committed just nine turnovers. Indiana made eight 3-pointers to Cleveland's nine.

The Cavaliers won despite having just 16 assists on 35 field goals.

"We were just making shots. I think we made everything on the defensive end tough for them in terms of making more tough shots – no easy layups, no more dunks and half-court defense. I think we were really efficient on the offensive end. I think we were just one rebound away from having the chance to either tie it or to win the game." -Hibbert on the fourth quarter

"Throughout the game, my wind wasn’t as I would like it to be when I’m 100%. I was just glad I was able to be out on the floor with my guys to make a few plays to help us win." -James on playing through illness

"LeBron does a lot of great things and we all know that. One of those things is he comes to play. He was sick and certainly could have made an excuse but did not. He wanted to play and we let him go. I thought that he did a terrific job tonight, both under the circumstances and normally." -Cavaliers head coach David Blatt

"For our team, for the guys that have never been in the postseason, we have a few guys - looking around I know Double T (Tristan Thompson), Kev (Kevin Love) and Kyrie (Irving) have never been in the playoffs and I don’t think they should take that for granted and just overlook that. It’s a huge thing for those guys. I’m happy I was able to be a part of their first clinch for the postseason." -James

"It feels amazing, it’s an exciting moment. It’s been four years. I was just talking to K-Love (Kevin Love), all of us coming together as a team and us making the playoffs for the first time is an awesome thing. I can’t wait for them, but we just have to take it still as regular season, one game at a time and finish up strong." -Irving on making the playoffs

The Cavaliers are now 26-6 since Jan. 15, the best record in the NBA over that span.

The Pacers host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »