CLEVELAND: The Cavaliers have not had much trouble building large leads the past few weeks.
The trouble has been maintaining the comfortable advantages and putting foes away. It was a problem during the final stretch of the regular season, and it came up again Saturday in the playoff opener when the Cavs blew a double-digit deficit to the Indiana Pacers, and then recovered to win by one.
Monday night was much of the same as the Cavs received big scoring efforts from Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and LeBron James, but had to fend off a scrappy Pacers team en route to a 117-111 victory in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series at Quicken Loans Arena.
The action shifts to Indiana for Game 3 at 7 p.m. Thursday, with the Cavs ahead 2-0 in the series.
Irving dazzled the sellout crowd of 20,562 with his ball handling and shot making, finishing with 37 points, two assists and two rebounds. He made 14-of-24 from the field (including 4-of-10 from 3-point range) and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Love totaled 27 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, and James had 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Paul George led the Pacers with 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jeff Teague (23 points, four assists); Thaddeus Young (16 points) and Lance Stephenson (13 points, four assists) also gave valiant efforts for the Pacers.
J.R. Smith made one 3-pointer in the first half, and then missed the rest of the game due to a left hamstring injury. Iman Shumpert filled in admirably in the second half.
The Pacers’ C.J. Miles, George and Kevin Seraphin combined to score seven consecutive points to begin the fourth quarter and cut the Cavs’ lead to 96-85 with 10:08 left.
The Cavs responded with baskets from Kyle Korver and James, and then moments later Irving scored seven consecutive points to give the Cavs a 109-94 lead.
The Pacers got as close as four points (113-109) following a George 3-pointer with 19.5 seconds to go, but Love and Irving both made two free throws and Stephenson made a bucket to conclude the scoring.
Love made 6-of-7 from the field (including 3-of-4 from 3-point range) and 12-of-12 from the free-throw line. James made 11-of-20 field goals and 3-of-6 free throws.
George got off to a quick start with a dunk and two 3-pointers as the Pacers built a 9-4 lead with 9:01 to go in the first quarter. The Cavs responded with a 12-3 run that included scoring from Love, Irving, James and Tristan Thompson to hold a 16-12 edge.
The remainder of the first quarter featured each team exchanging buckets, and concluded with the Cavs ahead 32-29 after Deron Williams made a 3-pointer and Love swished two free throws. Love and George both finished the opening 12 minutes with 10 points.
The Cavs scored the first eight points of the second quarter to extend their lead to 40-29. James and Richard Jefferson both made layups, and then James buried a jumper and tossed down a two-hand slam dunk.
James kept attacking, and the Cavs kept making 3-pointers as Williams made two long-range shots and Channing Frye and Love each netted one during a spurt where the advantage remained in double figures.
George, Teague, Young and Monta Ellis helped the Pacers cut into their deficit and trail the Cavs by five points at halftime (63-58). James had 17 points, five assists and five rebounds. George totaled 18 points, three assists and three rebounds in the first half.
The Cavs started strong in the third quarter by rattling off seven points in a row with Irving making two layups and then Shumpert making a 3-pointer with 10:25 on the clock.
The third quarter also featured a personal 10-0 run by Love.
Love’s 10-0 spurt included six free throws, a layup and a tip-in and took the Cavs’ lead to 89-70 with 2:02 left in the quarter.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.
