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Game Rewind: Pacers 113, Cavaliers 104

Game Recap

The Pacers started off a five-game road trip the right way on Saturday night, as all five starters scored in double figures to lift Indiana (36-24) to a 113-104 win in Cleveland.

T.J. Warren led the way with 30 points on 14-of-20 shooting and six assists, but he was far from the only productive Pacer in the victory. Malcolm Brogdon had 22 points and eight assists, Victor Oladipo had a season-high 19 points, and Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner both recorded double-doubles.

All five starters made keys plays down the stretch.

"I think we're going to be tough to beat," Oladipo told FOX Sports Indiana's Jeremiah Johnson after the win. "We've got a lot of guys that can step up and make big shots — (Warren), Myles, me, Malcolm, Domas — we don't shy away from the moment and pressure."

There were six lead changes over the first half of the fourth quarter, which began with the score knotted at 86. Indiana eventually moved in front on Brogdon's jumper with 6:41 to play and maintained a narrow advantage for the next several minutes.

Oladipo hit a runner with 4:17 remaining to extend Indiana's lead to 102-99 and then after Turner and Sabonis contested Andre Drummond and forced a miss at the rim, Warren drilled a jumper to push the lead to five with 3:30 left in the contest.

Drummond's dunk made it a three-point game with 3:17 to play, but Warren hit a jumper on the other end. Then after Collin Sexton missed a jumper, Warren got to his spot on the left elbow, caught a dish from Sabonis, and swished another shot to give the Blue & Gold their largest lead of the night at 108-101.

"I just wanted to stay aggressive," Warren said. "I thought I was a hot hand and my teammates did a great job of finding me."

After a timeout, Kevin Love hit a 3-pointer with 2:06 left to trim the lead back to four. After the two teams traded misses, Turner drilled another clutch 3-pointer.

The 6-11 big man sealed Thursday's win over Portland with a 3-pointer in the final seconds and he came through again on Saturday. After a kick out from Sabonis, Turner got Drummond to bite on a pump fake, then calmly knocked down the game-sealing triple with 59.1 seconds remaining.

Turner finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks. Sabonis, meanwhile, just missed out on his fifth triple-double of the season, tallying 18 points, 13 boards, and nine assists.

"We have a lot of weapons," Warren said. "A lot of guys that can play-make, score, and just make stuff happen at the right time for us. We're going to continue building that chemistry."

The Pacers maintained a narrow lead for most of the first quarter, with Warren scoring nine points in the frame and Brogdon adding eight. But Drummond had 10 points for Cleveland (17-43) and Kevin Porter Jr. added eight off the bench, including a 3-pointer with 25.3 seconds left in the opening quarter that gave the Cavs a 31-30 lead after one.

Neither team led by more than five in the entire first half. Cleveland led 51-48 with three minutes remaining before halftime when Oladipo took over. The two-time All-Star knocked down a mid-range jumper, then drove and dished to Sabonis for a dunk on the next possession to put Indiana back in front.

Love hit four free throws to put the hosts back in front before Oladipo bounced in a floater with 45.4 seconds left in the half. Darius Garland's 3-pointer on the other end extended the Cavs' lead to four, but once again Oladipo scored on the other end to make it a two-point game at the break.

Oladipo scored nine more points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that triggered an 11-2 Pacers run to take an 86-80 lead with two minutes remaining in the frame. But the Cavaliers scored the final six points of the quarter, with Porter's layup with 47.3 seconds remaining making it an 86-86 tie entering the fourth quarter.

Drummond led Cleveland with 27 points and 13 rebounds, while also tallying four assists and four blocks. Love added 20 points, 12 boards, and seven assists in the loss.

The Pacers' next stop on their road trip is in San Antonio, where they will take on the Spurs on Monday night at 8:30 PM ET.

Inside the Numbers

Warren topped 30 points for the fifth time this season. The Pacers are 4-1 when he scores 30 or more. He also matched his career and season high with six assists.

Sabonis recorded his seventh straight double-double and his 46th this season. He continues to climb closer to Troy Murphy's franchise record of 49 double-doubles in a single season, set in 2008-09.

Turner had 10 rebounds for the third straight game and recorded his second straight double-double and seventh overall.

Oladipo's 19 points were his most in 10 games this season since returning from a year-long absence following knee surgery.

Thanks to a scheduling quirk, Drummond recorded his fifth double-double this season against the Pacers. He played four games against Indiana with the Pistons before being traded to Cleveland on Feb. 6. He has averaged 23.4 points and 17.8 rebounds against the Blue & Gold this season.

You Can Quote Me On That

"I thought they played well together. (In) the minutes that they played, I thought they established us in that first and third quarter and they finished strong. I thought defensively they stayed together and they found a way to get stops in that fourth quarter to win this game." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan on the Pacers' starting five

"At the end of the day you want to win every single game. It's a pretty tough road trip we're on right now – five games in ten days. Every game matters. It's tough to win on the road no matter who you’re playing, so you have to be ready to play, be ready to win." -Oladipo

"He's going to make or miss shots every game – you can’t control that. What we see from him though is he's more active defensively, he's being more aggressive and that's good for us. Teams respect him so the more aggressive he is, the more he gets other guys open or he finishes himself." -Sabonis on Oladipo

"We just had a couple tough possessions. They're a team that competes really, really hard, plays physical on both sides of the ball, really gets to their spots and they were able to do that. Turner hit a big shot for them down the stretch there in the final minute or two, so that was a really tough one for us." -Love

"I think they did a really good job executing their stuff down the stretch and their guys, Warren got to a spot quite a bit, they had some really good looks. I think you know defensively, we could have put a little more pressure on him. Got into him a little bit more, been a little bit higher in our pick and rolls to try to you know stymie that a little bit, but give them credit, they got to their spots and made shots." -Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff

Stat of the Night

The Pacers' starters combined for 99 of their 113 points on Saturday. Indiana won despite getting a season-low 14 bench points, nine of which came from Doug McDermott.

Noteworthy

  • The Pacers have now won eight of their last 11 regular season contests against the Cavs.
  • Oladipo was considered a game-time decision due to an ankle injury, but determined he was able to go.
  • Drummond returned to the lineup for Cleveland after a two-game absence due to a groin injury. He replaced Tristan Thompson, who missed Saturday's contest with a left knee contusion, in the starting lineup.

Up Next

The Pacers head down to San Antonio to take on DeMar DeRozan and the Spurs on Monday, March 2 at 8:30 PM ET.

Tickets

After a five-game road trip, the Pacers return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to host Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

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