Cavaliers look to find win over league-worst Pacers, build up hot streak

"It's time to get the season back on track."

That's what the Cleveland Cavaliers should be saying to one another ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Indiana Pacers.

On Jan. 6, the Cavaliers and Pacers will be going toe-to-toe from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. This will be the third of three regular-season matchups between the two sides, with the Cavaliers dominating the first two. While they've had their ups and downs, the Cavaliers are trending in the right direction with a 20-17 record.

Over the course of the last four games, Cleveland has won three, taking down the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns. Those aren't just pushover teams. They are some of the top organizations in the Western Conference.

While those wins were convincing, they then fell right back down to earth with a disappointing loss to the Detroit Pistons, 114-110. The bench struggled and fluttered, leading to the starters having to carry most of the weight.

Fortunately, a game against a team like the Pacers gives them their best chance to get confidence right back.

Heading into Tuesday night, the Cavaliers are 5.5-point favorites.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 5.5-point favorites tonight on the road against the Indiana Pacers.
— Danny Cunningham (@RealDCunningham) January 6, 2026

While that's primarily due to the Pacers having just six wins, it's also because they've been dealing with countless injuries, including ones to Tyrese Haliburton, who has been out the whole season, forwards Isaiah Jackson and Obi Toppin, and guard Bennedict Mathurin. Each of the four is very important to the team's success on the offensive end.

Six-win Pacers are scrappy

But Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle believes that even through such adversity, guys are rising to the occasion.

"We're making progress," Carlisle said. "That stretch in the second quarter, that's what we got to address. Any kind of long offensive or defensive droughts, most of the time, they're related. You got bad droughts on offense, it's probably your defense isn't doing a good enough job and vice versa.

"We'll look at all this stuff and I was very proud of the way the guys hung in in the second half."

The Pacers are going to have to hope the game doesn't come down to a second half push.

Recently, the Cavaliers have been a hard team to battle with down the stretch of the game; while they haven't always come out on top, they keep fighting till the final whistle. Superstar guard Donovan Mitchell has been a main reason for that, averaging 29.8 points a game on shooting splits of 49.7% from the field and 38.8% from beyond the arc.

If the Cavaliers want a smooth-sailing win on Tuesday, they'll have to lean into Mitchell to get the team off the ground to start. However, it would be exciting to see the bench return back to form and guys like Jarrett Allen continue to trend the right direction.

Allen, who started the year off incredibly rocky, has gotten more consistent as of late.

The Pacers and Cavaliers will tip-off action at 7:00 p.m. EST.