Cavs Seal 120-116 Win in Indianapolis

On Tuesday night in Indianapolis, the Cavaliers were without their top closer. So, Kenny Atkinson handed the ball to Darius Garland in the bottom of the ninth – and the Indiana native promptly put the Pacers away. 

Cleveland trailed the scrappy Pacers by nine points after three quarters, but Garland completely took charge from there – drilling all seven shots he attempted, scoring 14 points in the fourth as the Cavaliers took the lead midway through the period and held off Indy the rest of the way to seal the 120-116 decision at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 

Garland – who led both teams with 29 points overall – drilled the pull-up jumper to put the Cavaliers ahead for the final time midway through fourth and another one with 12 seconds to play that snuffed a late Pacers rally. On the night, the 7^th-year man went 14-for-23 from the field, adding six assists and a pair of boards in the win. 

The Wine & Gold trailed a Pacers team that had dropped 12 straight by a touchdown at halftime and both teams shot 52 percent from the floor in the third quarter. But the Cavs came out firing in the fourth – using a 14-4 run to take their first lead of the second half. Led by Garland’s flurry, Cleveland shot 68 percent in the final quarter, with the Cavaliers closing out the affair at the free throw line. 

Garland was asked postgame if he likes the Cavs becoming a fourth-quarter comeback team. “I don’t like it,” said the squad’s most tenured player. “We’re not used to it. We do have enough talent that we can get a win with it, which is not a good thing. I think our first three quarters have to be like our fourth, so we can sit down in the fourth quarter if we need to. But all that matters is we got the win. That’s all that matters.”

Evan Mobley finished with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting, adding six boards, five assists, two steals and a pair of blocks. For the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, it was his fifth straight game with multiple rejections – swatting 17 shots over that stretch. 

Jarrett Allen notched his seventh double-double of the season on Tuesday, netting nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, adding a game-high 12 rebounds, going 8-of-13 from the floor and adding four assists and a pair of steals. Cleveland is now 6-1 this season and 127-46 all-time when J.A. registers a double-double. 

Sam Merrill, starting in place of Donovan Mitchell – who got the night off – added 19 points of his own, going 6-for-10 from long-range to go with four boards and a pair of assists. Merrill’s now connected on 15 triples over his last three games, and in 20 overall appearances this year, he’s connected on at least four three-pointers in 11 of them. 

Garland wasn’t the only Indiana native to post a big night on Tuesday. Craig Porter Jr. showed his incredible versatility over the team he grew up rooting for – finishing with eight points, nine rebounds, a team-high nine assists, two steals and a game-best three blocked shots. 

De’Andre Hunter pitched in with 12 points and nine boards in 22 minutes of work off the bench. 

Paskal Siakam led the Pacers with 22 points, but the Cavs made him take 23 shots to do it. Johnny Furphy led Indy with 11 boards; Andrew Nembhard led both teams with 11 assists. 

On the night, Cleveland shot 56 percent from the floor, handed out 33 assists and piled up 64 points in the paint. The Cavs also dominated Indiana on the glass, 48-32. 

*** Earlier in the day, the Cavaliers released a status report on swingman Max Strus, who underwent evaluation and imaging on his left foot after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a Jones fracture. The evaluation and imaging revealed positive progress, but he’ll need additional time for the fracture to fully heal. Strus will continue the rehabilitation and conditioning phase of his recovery along with ongoing medical treatment. 

*** The Cavaliers close out their two-game midweek road trip on Thursday night in Minneapolis – taking on Anthony Edwards and the T-Wolves on Thursday night before welcoming Minnesota back to Cleveland for a Saturday afternoon affair at Rocket Arena. The Jazz roll in on Monday night before the Wine & Gold head to the City of Brotherly Love for two straight – next Wednesday and Friday.