Pacers 123, Cavaliers 109
INDIANAPOLIS -- Paul George scored 29 points, and the Indiana Pacers took full advantage of Cleveland's decision to rest LeBron James in a 123-109 win victory over the Cavaliers on Wednesday.
C.J. Miles added 21 points for Indiana, which remains in the No. 7 slot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. The Pacers (42-36) are one-half game ahead of the Detroit Pistons (42-37), who defeated the Orlando Magic 108-104 Wednesday night.
Solomon Hill and Ian Mahinmi each added 15 for the Pacers, and Monta Ellis added 13 points and eight assists in Indiana's third consecutive victory. The Pacers finished 16-for-31 from 3-point range.
Kyrie Irving scored 26 for Cleveland, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Cavaliers (56-23) got 23 points from Kevin Love.
A George three-point play followed by a George 3-pointer gave Indiana a 116-98 advantage with 5:08 remaining.
Miles made two quick fourth-quarter 3-pointers, and Rodney Stuckey added one to give the Pacers a 109-90 lead with 8:11 to play. At that point, Indiana was 14-for-26 from beyond the arc.
Indiana used an 8-0 run, including two 3-pointers from George, to take a 96-78 lead with 2:29 remaining in the third period. The Pacers led 96-82 after 36 minutes.
A George 3-pointer and two free throws from Mahinmi pushed the Pacers' third-quarter lead to 88-74, but Irving countered with consecutive baskets to pull the Cavaliers to within 88-78.
The Pacers scored a season-best 70 first-half points -- they scored 66 against the Brooklyn Nets and against the Denver Nuggets -- on their way to a nine-point lead through 24 minutes.
With the game tied at 41, Indiana scored 14 consecutive points, including two Hill 3-pointers, a Miles 3-pointer and a Stuckey three-point play.
George scored 14 first-half points for the Pacers, and Ellis and Solomon Hill each added 11. Indiana shot 61.9 percent during the opening half, including 7-for-13 from 3-point range.
Love had 21 first-half points for Cleveland, and Irving added 15 points and five assists. Cleveland shot 52.6 percent from the field before halftime.
For the game, the Pacers hit 56.3 percent of their field-goal attempts while holding the Cavaliers to 47.3 percent shooting.
NOTES: The Cavaliers defeated the Bucks 109-80 Tuesday in Milwaukee, and the decision was made to rest F LeBron James against Indiana. Iman Shumpert (5.8 points per game) started in place of James and scored four points. ... Indiana G Ty Lawson (upper respiratory infection) did not play. ... Cleveland ranks third in opponents' points per game (97.8), fifth in opponents' rebounds per game (40.9) and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (38.1). ... Indiana ranks second in opponents' 3-point field goal percentage (33.2) and fourth in steals per game (9.1). ... Cleveland was looking to sweep the regular-season series against the Pacers for the first time since 2007-2008. The Cavaliers won the first three meetings by a collective 13 points. ... Cleveland had lost 10 in a row in Bankers Life Fieldhouse until winning 111-106 in overtime on Feb. 1.