After a day off in Vegas, the Summer Pacers return to action on Monday when they face the Summer Cavaliers at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion. This will be the final pool play game for the Pacers before “playoffs” tournament begins on Wednesday. While much of the focus of the first two games was on T.J. Leaf and rookie Aaron Holiday, the other rook, Alize Johnson has posted a couple of consistent efforts in his first two opportunities. Can he keep it going? Holiday will face fellow rookie, Collin Sexton for the Cavs. Also, former Purdue forward Dakota Mathias has been getting minutes off the bench for the Summer Cavs. Pacers (1-1) vs. Cavaliers (1-1) - 5:00 PM EDT at Cox Pavilion TV: ESPN2 Stream: WatchESPN As always, leave your thoughts and observations about the game, team and offseason moves in the comments.<doc-sep>After a day off, the Pacers returned to action in the 2018 NBA Summer League on Monday, playing their third game in four days. TJ Leaf scored 20 points and Indiana got a strong performance from second-round pick Alize Johnson, who amassed 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds in Monday's contest. But it wasn't quite enough to overcome the Cleveland duo of Cedi Osman and Collin Sexton, who combined for 46 points and 10 assists to lead the Cavaliers to a 93-88 win at Cox Pavilion. Offensively, the Pacers put together an uneven performance, tallying six more turnovers than assists. "We had 17 turnovers, our last game we had eight turnovers," Pacers Summer League coach Steve Gansey said after the loss. "That's the game. In a 40-minute game, you've got to have 10 or less turnovers. You've just got to be smart." PHOTO GALLERY: Pacers 88, Cavaliers 93 » Both of the Pacers' two 2018 draft picks got off to strong starts on Monday afternoon. First-round pick Aaron Holiday scored five of Indiana's first six points, knocking down an early jumper and then later converting a three-point play. Johnson then provided a nice spark off the bench, crashing the glass and playing with energy. He scored seven points in the opening quarter, including a 3-pointer from the left corner, to help the Blue & Gold out to a 24-21 lead. "Coming off the bench, being a spark plug right now for my team has been really helpful," Johnson. "I'm just trying to contribute as much as I can." In one sequence midway through the opening frame, Holiday came up with a steal, then dished back to a hustling Johnson for a basket plus the foul. The Pacers fell behind in the second quarter despite seven points in the frame from 2017 first-round pick TJ Leaf, and trailed 47-42 at halftime. The chief reason for the deficit was poor shooting, as Indiana shot just 37.5 percent in the first half, while Cleveland converted 52.8 percent of its attempts. The start of the second half featured a memorable duel between Holiday and fellow point guard Sexton, whom the Cavs took with the eighth overall pick in last month's draft. Sexton scored five quick points at the start of the third quarter to help Cleveland open up a 52-44 lead. But Holiday responded with seven points of his own to key an 11-2 Indiana run that put the Pacers back in front. "Those are going to be two top point guards in this league," Gansey said. "It was kind of fun to watch." Second-year forward Osman then put together his own personal showcase, scoring seven points, blocking Holiday, and drawing a charge in a little over a two-minute span to give Cleveland a five-point cushion. Cleveland maintained that advantage for remainder of the period, taking a 69-64 lead into the fourth quarter. Johnson had another strong showing in the opening minutes of the final frame, scoring eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and showing a high level of assertion offensively, taking defenders off the dribble and attacking the rim. "He got going for a little bit," Gansey said. "He just needs more time and more reps out there playing." Nevertheless, the Cavaliers remained in front by multiple possessions for much of the fourth quarter. The Pacers twice cut the deficit to two points, but never could quite get over the hump as the Cavaliers pulled away late. Leaf had 20 points and nine rebounds, but struggled again offensively, going just 8-for-21 from the field. Holiday also was inconsistent on that end, scoring 12 points and dishing out eight assists, but going just 4-for-14 from the field (1-for-7 from 3-point range) and committing eight turnovers. "I had too many turnovers today," Holiday said. "I've got to go back and watch film and shoot layups. I had the layup, but I tried to pass it out (and committed turnovers)." Second-year guard Edmond Sumner was the only other Pacers player to reach double figures. The former Xavier Musketeer scored 14 points and knocked down 6-of-11 shots, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Osman led all scorers with 25 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Sexton added 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting for Cleveland in the win. Indiana will begin tournament play on either Wednesday or Thursday. The tournament is single-elimination, but all teams that lose their first-round game will play a consolation game on Friday.<doc-sep>On Monday afternoon in Las Vegas, two members of the next generation of Cavaliers showed their potential. Behind 25 points and six assists from Cedi Osman and 21 points and four assists from first round pick Collin Sexton, the Cavs beat the Pacers 93-88 in the third summer league for both teams. Osman made his return after missing Saturday’s loss to the Bulls for rest and flourished. In a team-high 31 minutes, he took on a much larger role than he did last year in Cleveland and did a little bit of everything. The one real mark against his performance was a 2-8 on three-pointers, but he was otherwise on point. As for Sexton, he had perhaps his best game of summer league. With Osman serving as another ball handler, he deferred a little bit more, but also had instances where he picked his spots at the right times and scored some easy buckets. His four assists also set a new summer league high for him. Ante Zizic did not play for the Cavs in the game due to rest. Two-way players Billy Preston and John Holland scored 12 and eight points, respectively. Cleveland next’s game is to-be-determined as the rest of the first round of summer league games are played.<doc-sep>
A second quarter lull for the Indiana Pacers left them just shy in a quest for a comeback win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, dropping to 1-2 in Las Vegas Summer League play after a 93-88 loss to the Cavs. The Pacers lost their second quarter 26-18, unable to make up ground in the second half, playing to a draw after the break. Defense was optional for stretches, but not completely abandoned. While the Cavs enjoyed easy trips to the rim, the Pacers did have 11 steals and seven blocks, led by Aaron Holiday with three steals and T.J. Leaf with two blocks. Leaf would lead the way for the Pacers with 20 points and nine rebounds. Seven of those rebounds came on the offensive glass, but the Pacers were only able to get four points out of those opportunities. Leaf’s play continued to trend inside as he continued his poor shooting from deep, going just 1-5. Leaf’s three point shooting continues to confound as he looks wildly uncomfortable in many of the attempts he’s taking while still pulling into a couple of confident, in rhythm looks that either go or are far closer than the hesitation bricks he’s put up as well. Leaf was the focus of the offense, shooting 8-21. Unfortunately for the Pacers, their other offensive focus in Holiday was not any better, going 4-14 and a dreadful 1-7 from three point range. Holiday was also loose with the ball, dishing eight assists, but committing eight turnovers. While there has been inconsistency on offense, Holiday continues to show a knack for finding the ball with his three steals, though again, the Pacers were unable to really capitalize on that, scoring on just one possession. There positives in the starting lineup, however, with Edmond Sumner scoring 14 points on 6-11 shooting, including 2-3 from deep. Sumner’s shooting was very confident in this game, no one was more reliable in getting the Pacers a needed bucket than he was. Ben Moore shot a perfect 3-3 as part of his nine points, giving the starting unit a big lift in terms of hustle. Of course, the Pacers were led in hustle by Alize Johnson, who had 16 points and seven rebounds, three offensive, scoring four in return. Johnson’s shot was solid around the rim, but not so much anywhere else, hitting just one shot outside of the paint, a corner three assisted by Sumner. Overall, the execution just wasn’t there for the Pacers. Bulk shooting from Leaf and Holiday make sense in terms of figuring out what the team has moving forward, but neither offered a lot of reliability in getting the Pacers into position to win. The Pacers at 1-2 will continue Summer League action later this week, though their schedule and opponent is not yet known.