Cavaliers at Pacers
THE STORY: The Indiana Pacers believe they have finally found a
second scoring option to complement Danny Granger. The Cleveland
Cavaliers are still searching for one legitimate threat and will
continue to do so when the teams meet in Indianapolis on Friday. David
West’s immediate impact was felt in his second game with the Pacers,
when he hit the shot in the final seconds that sealed their victory at
Toronto on Wednesday. West and Darren Collison, former teammates in New
Orleans, have been reunited at Indiana and have quickly falling back in
sync on pick-and-rolls. The Cavaliers are hopeful Kyrie Irving and
Tristan Thompson, selected first and fourth overall in last summer’s
draft, can eventually be the same way. Irving struggled through a
miserable 2-of-12 shooting performance in his debut, but rebounded to
make 5-of-9 shots and score 14 points in only 20 minutes in a victory
over Detroit on Wednesday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Ohio, FS Indiana
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (1-1):
Backup point guard Ramon Sessions spent the off-season developing a
3-point shot and has wasted little time in showing it off. Sessions
began the year shooting 19-percent on 3-pointers, but already has four
to surpass his total of three from last season. Sessions is averaging 17
points and six assists and has been a big reason why the Cavaliers’
bench is averaging better than 50 points through the first two games.
ABOUT THE PACERS (2-0):
With Jeff Foster (back) and Jeff Pendergraph (knee) both out until at
least next week, the Pacers are playing with only 11 healthy bodies. It
isn’t a concern yet, since both are expected back soon, but it leaves
the Pacers a little thin in the frontcourt. The Pacers will continue to
rotate West, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough at power forward and
center until Foster and Pendergraph can return.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Pacers have won five in a row in the series.
2. Pacers center Roy Hibbert has registered a double-double in each of the first two games this season.
3. The Cavaliers’ 16-point margin of victory over the Pistons on Wednesday was their largest in the post-LeBron James era.