George-Teague combo lifts Pacers past LeBron-less Cavs
INDIANAPOLIS -- Paul George had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeff Teague added 20 Wednesday night, and the Indiana Pacers defeated the shorthanded NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-93.
Cleveland (9-2) played without LeBron James (23.4 points), who was resting, and J.R. Smith (10.5), who has a right ankle sprain.
The Cavaliers got 27 points from Kevin Love and 24 from Kyrie Irving, but they lacked a third option to keep pace with the Pacers, who placed five in double figures and improved to 6-1 in Bankers Life Fieldhouse and 6-6 overall.
Love and Irving were a combined 21 of 43 from the field, but the rest of the roster was a collective 14 of 43.
A 6-0 Pacers' run, capped by a Thaddeus Young layup with 5:38 remaining, pushed Indiana's lead to 94-84.
Young finished with 16 points, Myles Turner scored 12 and CJ Miles had 10 for Indiana, which shot 50 percent (43 of 86).
With Aaron Brooks scoring the Pacers' final five third-quarter points, Indiana seized an 80-68 lead. The Pacers were shooting 50.8 percent (32 of 63) with 12 minutes remaining, led by George's 21 points and 18 from Teague.
Love had 25 and Irving had 20 through three quarters, but no other Cavalier had more than six. Cleveland was shooting only 40.6 percent (28 of 69).
The Pacers led by as many as 11 twice in the first half but settled for a 50-45 advantage through 24 minutes after Irving and Love combined for 22 second-quarter points and 31 after two quarters.
Teague had 12 first-half points for Indiana, which shot 48.8 percent (21 of 43) in the first two periods. George and Young each nine in the half for Indiana and Turner had eight.
The Cavaliers enjoyed a 26-19 rebounding advantage during the first 24 minutes.
NOTES: The Cavaliers played without F LeBron James, who got the day off to rest. ... The Pacers were without G Rodney Stuckey (right hamstring strain). ... The reigning World Champion Cavaliers entered with G Kyrie Irving (23.9), James (23.4) and F Kevin Love (20.4) averaging at least 20 points a game. ... F Paul George is the Pacers' leading scorer (21.0). ... Cleveland was playing the second night of a back to back having beaten Toronto 121-117 behind 28 points from James on Tuesday night. That victory was the Cavaliers' third in a row. ... Indiana was coming off Monday's victory against Orlando. ... Cleveland entered as the league's second-highest scoring team at 110.6, while Indiana is 12th at 106.5. ... The Pacers lead the NBA in blocks at 6.4- game ... Cleveland won last year's season series with Indiana, 3-1. ... Entering Wednesday's game, the Pacers led the all-time series, 93-88.