Indiana Pacers to Host Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs hope to defeat the Indiana Pacers even without James and it’s certainly possible. Newcomer Dwight Howard is off to a good start with 15.2 points and 12.4 rebounds a game. “I don’t really pay attention to the records”, Cavs star LeBron James told reporters. He also said the organization has improved its communication to the rest of the team, informing players earlier in the day that James wouldn’t play so they’d have time to process it. “It should be exciting for our players to go against the champion and the runner-up from previous year”. All other players not named Kyrie and Kevin combined to shoot 33% (14-of-43).

“We have a lot of great shooters”, Lue said.

In addition to the boatload of scoring, DeRozan’s averaging career-highs of 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals while also dishing 3.2 assists.

Head to head, the Cavs are 0-6-1 ATS in the last seven meetings and 0-5-1 ATS in the last six meetings in Indiana.

They responded with execution, toughness and defense. It don’t get no better then that early in the season. Wiggins has now scored 25-or-more points in four of his last five games for the Timberwolves.

And Charlotte overturned a 12-point half-time deficit with a 36-17 third quarter that lifted the Hornets to a 115-108 win at Minnesota, led by 30 points from Kemba Walker. But the Pacers were indeed spot on in limited the Magic to just 69 points on 32.1 percent shooting. The Raptors had the lead within the first five minutes, prompting Cavs coach Tyronn Lue to go back to Irving and Love with the Cavs trailing 107-101.

Teague had 12 first-half points for IN, which shot 48.8 percent (21 of 43) IN the first two periods.

PG – Jeff Teague / SG – Monta Ellis / SF – Paul George / PF – Thaddeus Young / C – Myles Turner.

The Cavaliers enjoyed a 26-19 rebounding advantage during the first 24 minutes. Raptors coach Dwane Casey said the Cavaliers’ focus on the 3-pointer has made them more hard to guard.

After snapping a two-game losing streak, the Indiana Pacers (5-6) will try reach the.500 mark for the fifth time this season.

Cavs guard J.R. Smith missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle, leaving Cleveland without one of its top outside threats and top defenders.

DeMar DeRozan has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week ending November 13, the National Basketball Association announced Monday. The Pacers were without G Rodney Stuckey (right hamstring strain).

The Cavs would blow out the Raptors 116-78 behind big nights from LeBron James and Kevin Love and would then win Game 6 back in Toronto to eliminate the Raptors from their first East Finals. That victory was the Cavaliers’ third in a row.

Frye came up as a major point of conversation after the game. Moreover, until it defeated Orlando on Monday, the Pacers hadn’t yet proven they could consistently beat any team regardless of their talent level. The Pacers may not have given up the lead, but that wasn’t for a lack of trying on Cleveland’s behalf.

Cleveland matched their best start to a season in franchise history on Tuesday, but they dropped to 9-2 24 hours later.