NBA Preseason: After Losing To The New York Knicks, The Indiana Pacers Grab First Win Of The Season Over Cavs In Cleveland

The Indiana Pacers picked up their first win of the preseason on Friday night when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-100.

coming home with the dub 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ABLgpFFQEn
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 9, 2021

Malcolm Brogdon led the way with a team-high 27 points and also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.

Some of what Brogdon said post-game can be seen in a video the Pacers posted to their Twitter account below.

"I worked extremely hard on my game this summer, so I'm coming back into this sixth season of mine confident and ready to go."

Hear from @MalcolmBrogdon7, @IJackson22, @Dsabonis11 and head coach Rick Carlisle following tonight's preseason win over the Cavs ⤵️
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 9, 2021

Domantas Sabonis had a double-double, scoring 14 points, and grabbing ten rebounds to go with two assists.

Both Brogdon and Sabonis played a team-high 28 minutes.

Over on the Cavs side, they were led by veteran point guard Ricky Rubio who had 14 points and two assists in 18 minutes of action.

The Cavs acquired Rubio in a trade in the off-season from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Collin Sexton, who led the team in scoring last season (24.3 PPG) was held to just ten points in 22 minutes of action.

Lauri Markkanen, who's in his first season with the Cavs, had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Some of what Markkanen said post-game can be seen in a video that is embedded below from the Twitter account of the Cavs.

"This has been a great environment for me to come in every day and get better."@markkanenlauri is feeling right at home in The Land pic.twitter.com/PqtZkb7EDo
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 9, 2021

The Pacers lost their first preseason game earlier in the week to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

The game was a blowout (125-104) in favor of New York.

Rookie Chris Duarte, who had a team-high 15 points in that game, had 11 points, two rebounds and three assists against the Cavs.

The Pacers will get a chance to play for their home crowd for the first time since last season, when they play their next preseason game on October 13 against the Memphis Grizzlies in Indiana.