The Pacers wrap up their three-game “road trip” on Saturday night when they visit the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans arena. With two off days after their last game in San Antonio, the Pacers were able to stop in Indy and practice at home on Friday. Unfortunately, Tyreke Evans ran out of rope with Nate McMillan after being late to practice so the key reserve guard stayed in Indy and won’t be available in Cleveland. The far less than ideal situation opens up an opportunity for Edmond Sumner to play some minutes off the bench. Considering the state of the Cavs, the Pacers should be able to weather the ‘Reke storm and still bring home a win. The Cavs are 0-5 so far this season and played their last game without Kevin Love who remains day-to-day with a left foot pain. Former Broad Ripple/IUPUI/Pacers guard George Hill is averaging 12 points per game for the Cavs. Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH When: 7:30 p.m. ET TV: FOX Sports Indiana Radio: 107.5 FM/AM 1070 The Fan Projected Starting Lineups: Pacers: Darren Collison, Victor Oladipo, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Myles Turner Cavaliers: George Hill, Rodney Hood, Cedi Osman, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson Injury update: IND: Tyreke Evans (team rules) - out CLE: Kevin Love (left foot) - TBD Enemy view: Fear the Sword Please leave your thoughts and observations on the game in the comments.<doc-sep>Game Recap The Indiana Pacers knew they would be facing a desperate Cavaliers squad on Saturday night in Cleveland. The Cavs entered the night 0-5 on the season, one of just two remaining winless teams in the NBA. Even without All-Star big man Kevin Love, Cleveland pushed the Pacers for most of the night, but in the end, Indiana's talent won out. All five starters scored in double figures for the Pacers (4-2), who won their second straight game for the first time in the young season, in a 119-107 win. "We definitely moved the ball at a high level," Pacers All-Star guard Victor Oladipo said. "A lot of guys touched it, a lot of guys (scored) in double figures today, so that's huge." The Pacers connected on their first nine field goal attempts on Saturday, something that normally would help them open up a healthy lead. But the Cavaliers dominated the hustle categories early, forcing five turnovers and grabbing six offensive rebounds over that same span, and actually held a narrow 24-23 lead when Indiana missed its first shot with 2:49 remaining in the opening frame. The two teams ended the first quarter tied at 30, but Cleveland opened the second with a 9-3 run. Indiana surged back in front thanks to a 9-0 run of its own, which featured a memorable sequence. After Oladipo converted a layup on the break, Cavaliers forward Kyle Korver threw the ensuing inbounds pass right into the arms of Darren Collison, who alertly corralled the ball and laid it in for two more points. The Blue & Gold held on to the lead for the remainder of the half, taking a 60-55 lead into the break. "We knew they (Cavs) were going to come out with a sense of urgency and scrap, and they did," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said. "They played hard and they out worked us, especially in the first half rebounding the ball...but I thought our guys hung in there and did the things we needed to do to win this game. "We got stops when we needed to. We kept working and was able to really just wear them down and then score the ball." The visitors seemingly seized control of the contest in the third quarter, using a 12-2 run to open up a 14-point lead. They led by as many as 15 points in the frame, but the Cavs slowly clawed back, trimming the deficit to just 88-83 heading into the fourth. Indiana led by six with just over nine minutes remaining when Collison took over. The oldest player on the Pacers' roster scored on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to double digits. DC slices through the defense with the strong take pic.twitter.com/2ASfjo16im — Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 28, 2018 Ensuing baskets by Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis gave Indiana a 105-91 lead and the Pacers never led by less than 10 the rest of the way. Bojan Bogdanovic led all scorers with a season-high 25 points, going 10-for-14 from the field. Oladipo was nearly as effective, tallying 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and dishing out six assists. Collison, Sabonis, and Myles Turner added 15 points apiece, while Thaddeus Young chipped in 10 points and five assists. It was a dominant offensive performance for Indiana even without sixth man Tyreke Evans, who did not travel to Cleveland for disciplinary reasons after being late to a practice earlier this week. Rodney Hood led Cleveland with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Larry Nance Jr. had a double-double off the bench for the Cavs, collecting 15 points and 12 boards. Love missed his second straight game for the Cavs due to left foot soreness. After three straight road games, the Pacers will return home to Indianapolis on Monday to host the Portland Trail Blazers at 7:00 PM ET. "It's a really good team playing really well right now," Oladipo said. "We're definitely going to have to be on our high horse and be ready to play." Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images Inside the Numbers Not only did they all score in double figures, but all five of the Pacers' starters made over 60 percent of their shots on Saturday. Turner went 7-for-10 from the field, while Collison and Young were both 5-for-8. Indiana outscored Cleveland 60-44 in the paint and 20-6 on the fastbreak. The Pacers had 28 assists as a team, with four different players dishing out at least five dimes. Oladipo and Collison both had six assists, while Young and Cory Joseph each had five. Despite the loss, the Cavs dominated the boards, outrebounding Indiana 39-24 overall and 16-4 on the offensive glass. It was the Pacers' worst rebounding margin so far this season. Cleveland also had the edge in bench points, with its second unit outscoring the Pacers' reserves, 54-30. You Can Quote Me On That "I think we moved the ball. We want to move the ball and not look for your shot. Take the shot that our offense creates and tonight (Collison) had some looks. We had good ball movement. Again, we had them scrambling defensively. The ball found him and he knocked down his shots." -McMillan "We had 28 assists and we were definitely taking what the defense gave us but we were still moving the ball at the same time. It was a great balance." -Oladipo "I was able to get a rhythm. You look at some of our games, either we blew them out or we got blown out in the first five games. I wasn’t able to find a rhythm. I felt like this game, I knew it was going to be a little bit close because we’re missing Tyreke (Evans) a little bit and I was going to find my rhythm." -Collison "They are so fast when you turn the basketball over that you can’t get back and you can’t get matched. They thrive in transition, all five of their guys run." -Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue "I don’t want to say surprisingly good, but it’s optimistic. Indiana is a very good team, in my opinion. Detroit is a very good team. Minnesota is a very good team. Toronto, obviously, a very good team. Teams that we have hung with, gone wire to wire with and a couple bounces here or there and it’s our game." -Nance on Cleveland's team morale Stat of the Night According to Basketball Reference, the Pacers' .649 field goal percentage on Saturday was the fifth-best mark in franchise history. The franchise record (.667) was set just a year and three days earlier, in a win at Minnesota on Oct. 24, 2017. Noteworthy Indiana is now 98-92 all-time against the Cavaliers, including a 37-60 record in Cleveland. Prior to Saturday, the Pacers had dropped seven of their last eight regular season games at Quicken Loans Arena. Indiana wore its gold "Statement Edition" uniforms for the first time this season on Saturday. Up Next The Pacers return home to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to host Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, Oct. 29 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets » Special Offer - Pacers Score 99+ Points Scotty’s Brewhouse: When the Pacers score 99 points or more, you can buy one sandwich, get one free the next day at any Indiana Scotty's Brewhouse location! To find the Scotty's Brewhouse nearest you, visit ScottysBrewhouse.com.<doc-sep>
The Indiana Pacers tightened up the playing rotation and took care of business on the road, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-107 on Saturday night. Offense was not a problem for the Pacers from the tip, as they swapped buckets with the Cavs throughout much of the first half before taking a five-point lead to halftime — a lead they would never relinquish. But that doesn’t mean the W came easy. The Cavs kept things within two possessions until an early fourth quarter burst by the Pacers pushed the lead to double digits. Nate McMillan had to juggle his normal rotation after holding out Tyreke Evans. Instead of filling all of Evans’ minutes with Edmond Sumner or other bench players, McMillan primarily relied on eight players to get things done. The lineup in the key stretch of the fourth quarter included Darren Collison, Cory Joseph, Bojan Bogdanovic, Doug McDermott and Domas Sabonis. After securing the lead early in the fourth, the Pacers took care of business to close out the Cavs for a nice runaway road win. Bogey (5 points) and Myles Turner (7 points) helped get the Pacers offense going early in the first quarter to keep pace with the Cavs as Cedi Osman and George Hill were cooking early. Darren Collision and Victor Oladipo tagged in and pushed the Pacers offense the rest of the first half. Collison had his best offensive game of the early season finishing with 15 points and 6 assists. Bogey logged a game-high 25 points while Oldaipo finished with 24 points and 6 assists. CoJo and Sabonis played heavy minutes off the bench with Domas scoring 15 points but only grabbing 5 rebounds. Fortunately, for the first time in the last five years, the Pacers are simply a better team than the Cavs. That allowed the Pacers to withstand a severe rebound disadvantage which favored the Cavs, 39-24. The Pacers also made just 5 of 13 three-point attempts which accounts for the lowest number of 3PAs in the NBA so far this season. The prior low was 18 by three teams, well, two other teams since the Pacers prior low for 3PAs was 18. The Cavs only made two more 3s on 25 attempts, so like the rebounding issues, the Pacers were able to easily survive their anemic effort from behind the arc. After finishing the roadie, 2-1 the Pacers return home to play the Trail Blazers on Monday sitting in fourth place in the East at 4-2. Prior to the game, Nate McMillan said that Tyreke Evans would be back in the mix for the game on Monday, assuming he makes it to practice on time before the game. A couple highlights for your viewing pleasure: