Cavaliers skid hits four with 124-107 loss to Pacers
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
The past week-plus has been dreadful for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they have to figure a way out of their rut.
With a 124-107 meltdown against the Indiana Pacers in Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night, the Cavs (3-5) have lost five of their last six games after winning their first two this season. Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue, though, found positives in the loss.
“I told them that we did some good things,” Lue said of his postgame message to his players. “We did some good things early, but we got to be able to sustain it. When we turn the ball over, it’s hard for us to get back and get matched.”
Against Indiana, LeBron James led Cleveland with 33 points, six rebounds and 11 assists, but he also had eight costly turnovers on the night. Cavs point guard Derrick Rose chipped-in 19 points.
Those performances weren’t enough to slow down the blazing Pacers offense. All five Indiana starters had reached double-figures in scoring by the time the fourth quarter began with the Cavs trailing 92-85. Cavs forward Jeff Green got the fourth quarter scoring underway with a layup to bring the Cavs within a five-point deficit, but all Cavaliers not named James had trouble keeping Cleveland in the contest.
After Green’s layup 21 seconds into the fourth quarter, no Cavalier aside James scored a point until Jae Crowder’s two free throws brought the Cavs within a 106-101 deficit with 4:56 to play. From that point forward, Indiana closed the game on an 18-6 run with very little answers from the wine and gold.
“We have an opportunity to be very good, but then you see some of the lulls that we have, which is very difficult on the team right now,” James said. “We’re just trying to figure it out on the fly, and unfortunately we don’t have time to practice a lot, do those things.”
The entire Indiana starting five had a spectacular night, led by Thaddeus Young, who finished with 26 points, six rebounds and four steals. Darren Collison was on fire the entire evening, finishing with 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting with eight assists. Victor Oladipo wasn’t far behind with 23 points and seven assists, while Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 17 points and Domantas Sabonis totaled 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
The Cavs struggles have trickled down from the team to individual players. Tristan Thompson is having his worst season as a pro, and J.R. Smith can’t seem to get out of his funk, scoring just six points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field Wednesday.
“He hasn’t really been in a set rotation,” Lue said of Smith. “He was coming off the bench early and then he came in, he was starting and then D-Rose went out when he was starting. So, he hasn’t really gotten a chance to get into a great flow.
“I think that’s been our whole team offensively, just having so many different combinations offensively starting the game and coming off the bench. Getting everyone healthy, getting everyone back, not having a set rotation, it’s kind of like starting training camp all over again. But the guys are putting in the work. I’m putting in work trying to get better, and we’re going to go from there.”
The Cavs trailed 30-28 after the first quarter and by the same margin, 40-38, after a Kyle Korver three-pointer with 8:07 remaining in the third quarter. By the time notorious instigator Lance Stephenson smacked LeBron James in the man region with 6:06 to play in the half, the Cavs trailed 49-40.
Stephenson was issued a flagrant foul on the play, and it may have ignited the Cavs. Cleveland closed the quarter with a 21-13 run to trail just 62-61 at halftime, although they lost Thompson to a calf strain just before the half ended.
Slow starts have plagued the Cavs all season, and they have to figure out a way to end that trend. Lue said a lack of work won’t be the problem.
“Yeah, it’s been long hours because you try to fit everyone in together,” Lue said. “When you change your starting lineup, and D-Wade and Crowder and D-Rose are three new starters in your starting lineup, you have to change things offensively. That’s been the biggest setback for us, is just offensively not really flowing and gelling together because we really haven’t had a lot of time to spend together.”
The schedule doesn’t get any easier, as the Cavs will be in Washington on Friday for a matchup with the Wizards.
POSTED 11/01/2017 22:14
Lake County Sentinel
Photo by Greg Goth