Cavaliers at Pacers
The red-hot Indiana Pacers seek to extend their season-long winning streak to eight games when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The Pacers have won five games by double digits during the stretch, including Sunday's 110-99 victory over the New York Knicks.
Indiana is allowing just 96.3 points per game during the winning streak with a high of 101 and feels the strong defense is the reason for the impressive run. "That's just our makeup. It's just something that's embedded in our heads," veteran point guard Darren Collison told reporters. "We know we have to be in our spots to help our teammates. We're just caring about one another. Everybody's making the right plays." Cleveland has lost back-to-back games and is beginning a stretch in which it plays six of seven games on the road. Backup guard Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points in Sunday's 128-105 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and is averaging 23 points over the past three games.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Cleveland), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (7-23): Coach Larry Drew is trying to keep the team together as it struggles during the start of the second post-LeBron James era. Injuries to frontcourt stalwarts Kevin Love (toe) and Tristan Thompson (foot) have made it tough for Cleveland to compete against strong interior players and that was evident in the loss to the 76ers. “With our team, the margin for error is small," Drew told reporters. "We have to accept that. We have to do all the little things because they sum up to be big things for our ball club and that’s just who we have to be.”
ABOUT THE PACERS (20-10): Star guard Victor Oladipo put together his best performance against the Knicks since missing 11 games with a knee injury. Oladipo produced 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a season-best five steals in the contest, just his third since returning from the injury. "He's letting the game come to him," center Myles Turner told reporters. "He's doing a great job of setting us all up and then taking the big shots when he needs to. And he's playing defense, too. He's back to being himself on the defensive end."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. SF Bojan Bogdanovic scored 25 points to lead the Pacers to a 119-107 home win over the Cavaliers on Oct. 27.
2. Cleveland SG Alec Burks is just 7-of-35 shooting over the past four games.
3. Indiana G Tyreke Evans (knee) is questionable after sitting out Sunday.