Game Rewind: Pacers 103, Cavaliers 93

Three weeks into the season, the 2016-17 Indiana Pacers are learning how to close out games. The Pacers (6-6) jumped out to an early lead over the LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers (9-2) on Wednesday night and stayed in front the rest of the way in a 103-93 win over the defending champions at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Cavs had rallied from a double-digit deficit to make it a four-point game midway through the fourth quarter. But over the next 1:15, the Pacers strung together a series of stops and scores to put the game out of reach.

First, Paul George found a cutting C.J. Miles, who drove to the hole and converted a tough two at the rim.

After a Kyrie Irving miss on the other end, Miles returned the favor, dishing to George from the left wing. When help rotated over, George dumped the ball off to Myles Turner for an easy layup.

After another miss by Irving, Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young worked the pick-and-roll to perfection. Teague drew the attention of both defenders as he weaved through the lane before dishing off to Young for another layup.

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue took a timeout to try to stop the bleeding, but the Pacers weren't finished. The Cavs botched a lob pass from Kevin Love to Irving out of the timeout and Teague scooped up the ball and pushed the break, finding Miles for an open three at the top of the arc.

The ball swished through the net, capping a 9-0 run and sending the capacity crowd at The Fieldhouse into hysterics.

"Execution and defense," Young said about the Pacers' ability to stave off the Cavaliers' charge. "We forced Kyrie into some tough opportunities. We know he's a tough shot maker but we definitely wanted him to try to make those shots. He missed a few and we were able to get out in transition, execute on offense and get some easy buckets."

George recorded his first double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Teague added 20 points and eight assists in the win, while Young chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds.

"Our defense is allowing us to get into a good flow," George said. "Every possession we're not coming down to a loaded defense. That's helped give us some efficiency on the offensive end."

The news broke a few hours before the game that the Cavaliers planned on resting James against the Pacers. It is the first game the four-time MVP has missed this season and comes on the second night of a back-to-back (the Cavs held off the Raptors in Cleveland on Tuesday night before traveling to Indianapolis).

James has now been held out for rest in three of the Cavaliers' last five games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, with all three of those contests falling on the latter half of a back-to-back.

"We needed a win, we weren't worried who was going to be on the floor for them," Teague said. "We were just going to go out there and compete. They've got talented players. Kyrie, Kevin, Channing Frye, these guys have made big shots for them time after time."

The Pacers took advantage of James' absence in the early going. Indiana reeled off 11 unanswered points in the early stages of the first quarter to open up a 15-7 lead. The hosts shot 57.1 percent from the field in the opening frame and led by 11 after the first 12 minutes.

Irving and Love — the Cavaliers' other two All-Stars — mounted a charge in the second quarter. Cleveland cut the deficit to two on Love's 3-pointer with 7:11 remaining in the half.

The Pacers responded with an 11-2 run to push the lead back to double digits, but the Cavaliers answered with 10 unanswered points — five of them from Love — to make it a one-point game.

George stopped the bleeding with a jumper with 49 seconds left in the half and then Turner scored in the post after an Iman Shumpert turnover to give Indiana a five-point cushion heading into the break.

George took over in the third quarter. The three-time All-Star scored 12 points in the period, going 4-for-8 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range to help Indiana stretch its lead back to 12 points heading into the fourth.

Cleveland would mount one last comeback attempt, but the Blue & Gold were able to hold them off to secure a second straight win and get back to .500.

Turner and Miles were the fourth and fifth Pacers players to score in double figures. Turner finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. Miles added 10 points off the bench, going 2-for-5 from 3-point range.

Love led all scorers with 27 points and 16 rebounds, both season highs. Irving added 24 points and seven assists in the loss.

The Pacers will close out a four-game homestand on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns at 7:00 PM ET.

George's double-double was the third by a Pacers player so far this season. Turner had the first two.

Pacers guard Monta Ellis had seven points, six rebounds, and four assists while also making a surprising contribution on the defensive end. Ellis' active hands on the perimeter allowed him to collect a career-high five rebounds. His previous best was three, and he had only gotten to that figure twice over his 11-year career.

The Pacers committed just 10 turnovers on the evening, their fourth straight game with 13 or fewer giveaways.

Aaron Brooks provided a nice spark off the bench, scoring nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. Brooks scored five points in the final 26.7 seconds of the third quarter, then buried another jumper on Indiana's second possession in the fourth.

Love and Irving combined to take exactly half of Cleveland's 86 field goal attempts. They were the only players on the Cavs to score in double figures.

"They're a dangerous team with LeBron and without him they're still dangerous. With him, they are a little more predictable because you know he and Kyrie are going to have the ball in their hands. When he’s out of the lineup, they will do something different with that team." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"We've been listening to our coaches and been very receptive to each and every thing they've been able to teach us. We want to continue to do that through the course of the season. It's made us better on defense, it's made us a better team." -Young on the Pacers' defensive improvements

"It's effort and coming up with more and more of those loose basketballs. We didn’t change the way we guarded, we just had guys get after the ball and make the ball handler have to make decisions and guys just being in the right spots helping each other." -Miles

"It's sore, but it's not a concern of me hurting it. It's not going to be 100 (percent), but the trainers, they've been phenomenal my whole career here. I'll continue to trust them." -George on his sprained ankle that kept him out of Saturday's game against Boston

The Pacers outscored the Cavs 44-24 in the paint, the fewest points in the paint allowed by Indiana all season (14 less than their previous season low, which came in Monday's win over Orlando).

The Pacers will host the Phoenix Suns in their first Hickory Game of the 2016-17 season on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:00 PM. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie Hoosiers, the film's director, screenwriter, and members of the cast will be honored at halftime. Find Tickets »