CLEVELAND, Ohio – Coach JB Bickerstaff’s message before the game was very clear, asking the Cleveland Cavaliers to finish the first half of the schedule well.
Quite the opposite. The Cavs squandered a 19-point lead in the third quarter, losing to the Indiana Pacers 114-111 on Wednesday night. The defeat opens a four-game winning streak and temporarily interrupts the positive momentum they worked so hard to build towards the All-Star break.
The midpoint finale is typically a little silly. This was no exception. Where do we start?
Cleveland, who entered the game ranked 29th on turnovers, committed an impressive number of 19 of them during a sloppy first half dotted with confused decisions, lazy passes and silly mistakes. Indiana turned those errors into 28 points, accounting for more than half of its production. And yet, Cavs still topped somehow by 10 points going to the locker room.
“I thought they were extremely aggressive,” said Bickerstaff after the defeat. “It was not complicated, it was very simple what was happening, but we did not respond well enough to the pressure.”
Cavs did a better job protecting the ball in the second half. Just not your leadership. The Pacers overcame the Cavs, 63-50, in the last 24 minutes, throwing 56.6% of the field. The game changed when second-year guard Darius Garland came out with a sprain in his left groin around the seven-minute mark in the third quarter. At that point, the Cavs led 17. 17. Cleveland was defeated 54-34 after the injury, with Garland helplessly watching from the bench.
“Darius is a heckuva player. He’s a guy that teams should be concerned with scoring and also making their teammates better, ”said Bickerstaff. “He was one of our main ball handlers and game creators and without him in the game it became a little more difficult and they were obviously able to focus on Collin (Sexton), send several bodies to him. I think we missed Darius a lot in the final stretch. “
Sexton’s 3-draw with less than 10 seconds remaining lasted for a while, and although Dylan Windler managed to catch the offensive rebound and keep him in a game of possession, the Pacers made a couple of free throws before the court next whole. pass on the field marked the second final away.
Sexton recorded the team’s first double-double point assist in a single time since LeBron James on February 7, 2018. Sexton’s 10 assists in the first half, the same number he ended with, were the maximum in a time since James did the same year. Sexton also scored 32 points, the best in the game, 12 out of 25 on the field and 2 out of 5 in the 3 point range.
Dean Wade, making his fifth consecutive game, added 17 points and six rebounds. Jarrett Allen scored another double-double, scoring 17 points and 11 rebounds. Garland scored 16 points and five assists in 19 minutes before his injury.
TJ McConnell of Indiana set an NBA record with nine steals in one half. He finished with 10 strokes, one far from equaling the record for a single game. It was part of an assisted triple-double stroke for McConnell, whose final deflection led to another empty ball possession for Cleveland and an elimination of the Pacers, taking the lead to four with about a minute to go.
“He deserved it, I admit it. He is who he is all the time. Obviously, double triples are not … steals, assists and points for him, but he is a pest all the time, “said Bickerstaff of Indiana’s guard. “He is a supreme competitor all the time. He backs away from anyone. He puts pressure on everyone. We allowed him to have that impact. “
For much of the night, it looked like Bickerstaff was going to get what he wanted: the Cavs building on their best game over the previous four games – forty-eight minutes of connected team ball that put them in the break overflowing with confidence. Instead, the first half ended with a missed opportunity.
“It’s tough. But it gets a lot harder when you win instead of being defeated,” said Wade. “Just mental mistakes. One of my twists was at the beginning, especially in the fourth quarter, so I’m going to take the blame. It’s very disappointing. shoot yourself in the foot. ”
They will have nine long days to regroup.
Special guest
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski was one of the fans inside the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday night. Stefanski, the NFL coach of the year, was shown on the video card in the first quarter, receiving a huge ovation.
Next
The Cavs go to the All-Star range. They will return on March 12, the start of a three-game trip against the New Orleans Pelicans. Delivery is scheduled for 20h
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New Cavs face masks for sale: This is where you can buy Cleveland Cavaliers-themed facial covers for protection against coronavirus, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a pack of 3 ($ 24.99). All NBA proceeds donated to charities.
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