Pacers Come Up Short To Cavaliers 98-93

Oct 12, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Lavoy Allen (5) during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati, OH – The Indiana Pacers fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-93 despite an impressive fourth quarter comeback. Indiana outscored the Cavaliers 30-22 in the fourth, but couldn’t execute plays late in the game, while Cleveland did make the winning plays to hold on. Both teams fought hard, and it was a very fun game that felt like more than a regular preseason game.

Cleveland took control of the game in the third quarter immediately, with LeBron James absolutely dominating the Pacers’ defense. The Cavaliers outscored the Pacers 29-17 in the quarter, and came up with the win despite a furious Pacers’ comeback. Indiana looked good in the first half, but once again they couldn’t keep up with James once he decided to turn things on and play with aggressiveness.

Chris Copeland came off the bench to lead the Pacers in scoring on the night, putting up 16 points on 6-10 shooting and 4-6 from behind the three-point arc. David West scored 15 points to go along with five rebounds in his homecoming back to Xavier University, and received quite a bit of crowd noise with each basket that he made. George Hill scored 11 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists, while both Rodney Stuckey and Luis Scola scored 10 points apiece to round out the double digit scorers for the Pacers.

James led the way as expected for the Cavaliers with 26 points on 9-12 shooting, and looked out to prove a point against any defender that the Pacers threw at him. Both point guards came through for the Cavaliers as the only other double figure scorers, with both Matthew Dellavedova and A.J. Price scoring 14 points apiece. Kevin Love played in just the first half, and scored five points on 1-6 shooting.

Indiana did everything that they could to pull off the win, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the lead that James built up in the third quarter. Seeing Copeland play as strong as he did was great for the Pacers, and they hope that he continue that type of scoring from this point on. Despite the loss, there were still quite a few positives for the Pacers to take away.