Indiana Pacers flounder in second half in big loss to Cleveland Cavaliers
The Indaiana Pacers will now officially go a full month without winning consecutive games. The Pacers beat the Trail Blazers on January 6 and the Hornets on January 8, and since then, losing has become common for the blue and gold.
Entering Sunday, the Pacers were fresh off of an impressive win over the Sacramento Kings. Indiana flashed defensive promise that night and won despite a relatively quiet outing from All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton. It looked as if the team was entering a groove.
On Sunday, the Pacers showed that they are far from being in any groove. They were smacked by the Cleveland Cavaliers on their home court for their 12th loss in their last 14 games. The blue and gold haven't found much success in the calendar year 2023, and that continued on Sunday.
"I don't think we're getting out and running as much as we used to. Makes or misses, early on I think we were getting it out and going, not letting a bucket affect us on the defensive end," guard T.J. McConnell said after the game. "We have to continue to do that and do a better job of that."
Early on against the Cavaliers, the Pacers were playing well. They beat Cleveland earlier in the season, so they know what it takes to topple their Central Division foes. After just over 17 minutes of action, the Pacers were leading the Cavaliers 37-36.
Cleveland dominated the rest of the second quarter, though, and carried a 16-point lead into halftime. They were magnificent to close the first half, and they never looked back.
In the third quarter, the Cavaliers ballooned the scoring margin as high as 28. They were controlling the game on the interior on both ends of the floor, and that set the tone all night. The Pacers couldn't get anything going inside or stop Cleveland at the rim.
In the end, the Cavs sleepwalked through the fourth quarter and wound up winning 122-103. They finished with 58 points in the paint.
"We got to the interior, were unable to finish in a lot of instances where we probably should have kicked out and re-spaced," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. "It's got to be a lesson learned."
Outside of a great third quarter in which they scored 38 points, the Pacers offense never looked comfortable. They dropped in just 65 points in the other three quarters combined, which won't cut it in the 2023 NBA.
There were errant passes, and there were missed shots that normally go down. And like Carlisle alluded to, there were moments that the Pacers made the wrong decision in the lane. The Cavaliers are a huge team, so they're a tough squad for the smaller Pacers to defeat.
"I think we're better when we're getting stops, we weren't able to get stops. And that kept us out of transition and allowed them to set their defense," Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton said post game. "Kudos to them, they played a heck of a game."
The Pacers still haven't won two games in a row in about a month, and they now have 30 losses. Indiana sits tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference at 25-30 with just four days until the trade deadline.
Pacers center Myles Turner was excellent, he finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds. He had a great week for the blue and gold after signing a contract extension on Monday.
Haliburton had 15 points and 11 assists, he saw a ton of attention for Cleveland's defense. He, along with six other Pacers players, made exactly 50% of his shots. Terry Taylor was the only Pacer to shoot better than 50%, though he only went 1/1.
Indiana will try to get back on track on Wednesday in Miami.
- Why a contract extension made sense for the Indiana Pacers and Myles Turner. CLICK HERE.
- Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton named a 2023 NBA All-Star. CLICK HERE.
- Kings All-Star Domantas Sabonis soaks in his return to Indiana: 'Everything was great. The vibes were great.' CLICK HERE.
- Indiana Pacers rookies Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard were named to the NBA Rising Stars team. CLICK HERE.
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