Pacers rally from 22-point deficit to beat Cavaliers 97-95
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Lance Stephenson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Darren Collison scored 22 points and the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 22-point, first-half deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-95 on Friday night.
The Pacers have won three of four and improved to 3-0 against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs.
LeBron James did everything he could to prevent the Cavs from losing a third straight game. He finished with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, while Kevin Love had 21 points and 10 rebounds.
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But James had two chances in the final two seconds to win it and missed both opportunities -- after Victor Oladipo gave Indiana the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the game.
First, the four-time MVP stepped out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go, a play that was confirmed on replay review. Then, after Collison made a free throw to give the Pacers a 97-95 lead, James' desperation 3 bounced high off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
James also was baited into a technical foul by Stephenson with 7:53 left in the game. A replay review showed James shoving Stephenson in the chest, though TV replays showed Stephenson driving his thumb into James' side.
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Oladipo made the free throw to extend Indiana's lead to 84-82.
Cleveland, which lost its previous two games by a combined 62 points, was outscored 84-61 over the final three quarters and wound up blowing the lead almost exactly nine months after the Cavs rallied from a 26-point deficit to beat Indiana in the playoffs.
TIP-INS
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Cavaliers: Jeff Green scored 13 points, all in the first half, and was the only other player in double figures. … It's the first time in 10 Central Division games Cleveland failed to score at least 100. … Love now has 7,007 career rebounds. … The Cavs were 7 of 34 from 3-point range and wound up shooting 43 percent overall after shooting 59.1 percent in the first quarter.
Pacers: Oladipo finished with 19 points while Domantas Sabonis had 12 points and 15 rebounds. … It's the first time Indiana has beaten Cleveland three times in a season since 2013-14. … Indiana was 10 of 21 on 3s just two days after going a season-worst 1 of 18 from beyond the arc. … The Pacers are 17-5 when making 10 or more 3s in a game.
UP NEXT
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Cavaliers: Host Golden State on Monday.
Pacers: Begin a five-game road trip at Phoenix on Sunday.