Pacers survive late crisis in Cleveland

The visiting Pacers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 82-78 in a Sunday night game. The Pacers are now a league best 27-6 while the Cavaliers are 11-23, The Pacers have defeated the Cavaliers each of the three times they have faced them this year.
Big Plays
It was a rare close game for the Pacers, who held on for a win that turned out much harder than it probably should have been. The biggest play in this game was when the Cavaliers were down 80-78 and had the ball. The Pacers' Paul George forced the Cavs' Dion Waiters into the waiting Roy Hibbert, which forced Waiters to throw up a kind of crazy shot, which Hibbert rebounded and then was fouled on. Hibbert hit 1 of 2 free throws, and then the Cavs' Earl Clark stepped out of bounds on the next possession. David West then hit the second of two free throws for the final score.
The Ups

Paul George had 16 points, six assists and five
rebounds as the Pacers held on to beat the Cavs.

1) When the Pacers needed a couple of big plays, this time it was Hibbert who came through. He had a rough game offensively, especially early on, but ended up with 15 points and six rebounds. Besides the key aforementioned defensive play, his biggest play was an offensive rebound basket off a Lance Stephenson miss with a 1:09 to go to give the Pacers a 79-76 lead. Hibbert is a pretty good free throw shooter for big guy at 75 percent, but hit just two of four from the line in that final minute. But the good news is, he will keep working on that because he knows he's got to hit those late in the game whether he is tired or not.
2) In the first half Pacer guards George Hill and Lance Stephenson had a disagreement about a possession, where Stephenson held the ball too long, only to be bailed out by Pacers coach Frank Vogel who was standing next to an official and called a timeout. While that was a good move by the coach, his best move was to sit Hill and Stephenson and let them watch for a while. This wasn't a big deal, or really anything to be alarmed about. These things happen over the course of an eight or nine month season. But the coach handled it perfectly and with C.J. Watson and Danny Granger playing those minutes, the Pacers built a nine-point lead by halftime. And in the third quarter it was Stephenson who got a rebound and when leading the fastbreak, found Hill in the corner, who hit a wide-open 3-pointer.
The Downs
1) The most disturbing part of this game was that the Pacers were up 16 midway through the fourth quarter and had things in hand, and then sort of stopped playing. The Cavs were without their best player, and one of the league's best, in Kyrie Irving, but they continued to play hard, led by Dion Waiters' 12 fourth quarter points, and went on a 16-1 run to make it close. Cleveland easily could have won this game. The Pacers, whether they are playing the Heat or the Cavs, need to learn to keep their foot on the gas pedal. Yes, there are some teams in the league that will give up when they are down double digits early in the fourth quarter, but you can't assume you're ever playing one of them. That assumption almost cost them a victory Sunday night.
2) The Pacers again had trouble with the Cavaliers on the offensive boards. Cleveland had 16 offensive boards for the game. It's something that helped the Cavaliers keep this one close and something the Pacers need to cleanup in their game in the coming months before it becomes an issue in the playoffs.
3) When it comes to playing on back-to-back nights, the Pacers have not been sharp at all on the second night of those games. Four of their six losses have come on those second nights. And yes, while it's true there are not back-to-backs in the playoffs, it could become an issue later in the season if the Pacers are challenging for the best record in the East or even the league. While they did get the win Sunday night, they were certainly less than sharp against a team that was missing its best player.
Afterthoughts
Forget for just a second what the Pacers should have done, the silver lining in this game is that they found themselves in a close contest and found a way to win late. Trying to win on the road in the NBA is harder than it is in the NFL (the only home team to win in the playoffs this weekend was the Colts), NHL or Major League Baseball. So, hey, maybe a little lesson learned here in how to play in a tight game on the road. But let's hope a big lesson was learned too in not letting themselves get into that situation against teams they have no business losing to.
Next Up
The Pacers will try to extract some revenge against the visiting Toronto Raptors Tuesday night. The Raptors ended the Pacers five-game winning streak last week. The Raptors have been a different team since they traded Rudy Gay to Sacramento. The biggest difference is on the defensive end, where they have picked up the intensity, at least at home. They had 10 wins in their last 13 games before losing at Miami in a close game Sunday night. The Raptors are led by Demar DeRozan at 21 points per game, Kyle Lowry at 16 points and seven assists, Amir Johnson at 11.5 points and seven rebounds and Jonas Valanciunas at 10 points and eight rebounds. The Raptors have a 16-15 record.