Cavaliers Easily Beaten By Pacers In Indiana

Tom Strickland - AP

about 9 hours ago: Indiana Pacers forward Josh McRoberts dunks over Cleveland Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao, of Brazil, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Tom Strickland)

View full size photo »

The Cavaliers outscored the Pacers 33-17 to make the score respectable in a lopsided defeat.

 

Danny Granger finished with a game-high 24 points and Darren Collison added 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds, as the Indiana Pacers earned an easy 100-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Brandon Rush netted 16 points off the bench for the Pacers, who shot 43.8 percent from the field and made 12 three-pointers.

Mike Dunleavy had 10 points and six boards for Indiana, which recorded a 93-77 victory at Miami on Monday and has won three of its last four.

Daniel Gibson and Ramon Sessions each ended with 15 points for Cleveland, which has dropped three straight and five of its last six contests. Antawn Jamison had a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards in defeat.

Rush threw in a one-handed runner from well beyond the three-point arc just before the first quarter buzzer sounded to give the Pacers a 24-16 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

Indiana then exploded for a 17-3 run in the early stages of the second half and grabbed 41-23 advantage after Collison's three-point play with 6:55 left before halftime.

James Posey hit a three and Granger made two at the stripe in the closing seconds to put the Pacers up by a commanding 62-37 score heading into the intermission.

It wasn't to be for the Cavaliers, as Dunleavy's trey and Rush's reverse layup put the hosts up by a healthy 32-point advantage, at 77-45, with 5:12 left in the third.

It was 83-56 after three quarters and Indiana never relinquished its double- digit lead in the fourth despite emptying the bench in favor of the deep reserves.

Indiana improved to 2-0 against Cleveland this season, but the Cavaliers have still won 17 of the last 24 meetings between the two teams...Cleveland, which got 11 points from Joey Graham, made 42.2 percent of its shots and finished 3- of-7 from three-point range.

• Subscribe to SB Nation Cleveland - All Posts using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

Pacers Fall Short Against Hawks 102-92

 

Josh Smith finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks, as the Atlanta Hawks earned a 102-92 win over the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Mike Bibby went for 16 points and seven assists, while Al Horford contributed 15 points for Atlanta, which has won seven straight over Indiana. The Hawks have won two in a row overall after a four-game slide. Marvin Williams, Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford had 11 points apiece in the victory.

Danny Granger had a team-high 22 points for the Pacers, who were coming off a 99-85 win at Cleveland on Saturday, but have dropped four of their last six. Roy Hibbert had 18 points and 15 boards in defeat.

Indiana held a 24-21 lead after the opening quarter and Hibbert scored five straight points near the midway point of the second to put the Pacers up 38-32 with nearly 5 1/2 minutes left in the half.

Atlanta then scored nine unanswered a short time later and after Bibby hit a three-pointer, the Hawks held a 41-38 edge and were ahead 50-49 at the intermission.

Ahead by three with nearly 7 1/2 minutes to play in the third, Williams' three-point play and a pair of free throws book-ended an 8-1 run and the Hawks were ahead 66-56 with 5:24 left in the quarter. Atlanta was up 77-65 after three.

T.J. Ford's jumper cut the Pacers' deficit to five with 7:04 to play in the fourth, but Horford hit a jumper as Atlanta ran off seven straight to go up 90-78 and the Hawks held on the rest of the way.

Atlanta shot 50 percent from the field and made 8-of-15 from three-point range, while Indiana made 44.3 percent of its shots and only 4-of-18 from beyond the arc...Mike Dunleavy contributed 14 points for the Pacers.

• Subscribe to SB Nation Cleveland - All Posts using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites