INDIANAPOLIS – Paul George and Lance Stephenson combined for 43 points and the Indiana Pacers remained unbeaten in the young season with an 89-74 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Stephenson scored 22 points, including 10 in a 14-4 run midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Pacers a 79-61 lead with 7:46 to play.
George, who had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and scored all the points in a key third-quarter run for Indiana (3-0).
Dion Waiters scored 17 points, Kyrie Irving had 15 and Anderson Varejao 14 for Cleveland (1-2), which dropped both ends of a two-night road trip after beginning the season with a homecourt win.
Stephenson began the final surge by hitting a 3-pointer from the left side, scored on a layup, drove the lane, then finished the run by knocking down a 28-footer from the left side. That pushed Indiana's lead to 18 points, and both coaches substituted liberally.
Roy Hibbert added 11 points for the Pacers, who played without guard George Hill, who sat out with a sore left hip. Replacing Hill, who scored 19 points in the Pacers' opener, was C.J. Watson, who scored seven points and dished out a team-high six assists.
Cleveland, which had scored the last six points of the third quarter to pull within 62-55, trailed 65-57 early in the fourth quarter.
Stephenson was 7 of 13 from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. George was 8 of 17 from the field, including 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.
George fueled the only real run of the first half, starting with a monster jam with 4:06 to go in the first quarter and finishing the 8-2 surge with two free throws as the Pacers took a 21-16 lead after one quarter.
Varejao started out fast for the Cavs, scoring eight points in the first 4:42, but the Pacers began to defend him at the free throw line and he did not score again in the half.
The Pacers shot 42 percent (16 of 38) in the first half to Cleveland's 31 percent (13 of 42) and outrebounded the Cavs 30-25.
Cleveland, which shot 29.2 percent (7 of 24) in the first quarter, improved to 34.9 percent (29 of 83) for the game. The Pacers finished at 41.6 percent (32 of 77).
Indiana outrebounded Cleveland 51-37.
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