Game ID: 22300091
Indiana Pacers @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 7:30 PM ET
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 37 12 38 26 113IND 31 29 31 34 125
CLE vs IND ScoutingCLE vs IND Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
CLE availability going into 10/25 · season opener
full strength
CLE availability going into 10/27 · 1 day's rest
full strength
CLE availability going into 10/28 · back-to-backOUT Merrill missed 2 since 10/25, returns tonight: 6 min (35% of 17)
OUT Thompson missed 2 since 10/25, returns tonight: 8 min (78% of 11)
CLE availability going into 10/31 · 2 days' restOUT Garland missed 2 since 10/27, out tonight
BACK Merrill back 10/28 after 2, 6 min since (35% of 17)
BACK Thompson back 10/28 after 2, 8 min since (78% of 11)
NEW Strus 33 to 40 min over the last 3
NEW LeVert 28 to 36 min over the last 3
NEW Okoro 26 to 32 min over the last 3
CLE availability going into 11/01 · back-to-backOUT Garland missed 3 since 10/27, out tonight
BACK Merrill back 10/28 after 2, 10 min since (59% of 17)
BACK Thompson back 10/28 after 2, 14 min since (126% of 11)
NEW Strus 33 to 38 min over the last 4
NEW LeVert 28 to 36 min over the last 3
NEW Wade 20 to 27 min over the last 3
CLE availability going into 11/03 · 1 day's restOUT Garland missed 4 since 10/27, returns tonight: 32 min (95% of 34)
BACK Merrill back 10/28 after 2, 10 min since (59% of 17)
BACK Thompson back 10/28 after 2, 13 min since (123% of 11)
NEW LeVert 28 to 34 min over the last 4
CLE availability going into 11/05 · 1 day's restOUT Merrill missed 2 since 11/01, returns tonight: 1 min (7% of 17)
BACK Garland back 11/03 after 4, 32 min since (95% of 34)
BACK Thompson back 10/28 after 2, 11 min since (99% of 11)
NEW LeVert 28 to 34 min over the last 4
IND availability going into 10/25 · season opener
full strength
IND availability going into 10/28 · 2 days' rest
full strength
IND availability going into 10/30 · 1 day's rest
full strength
IND availability going into 11/01 · 1 day's restOUT Sheppard missed 2 since 10/28, returns tonight: 15 min (95% of 16)
OUT Jackson missed 2 since 10/28, returns tonight: 19 min (148% of 13)
OUT Nwora missed 2 since 10/28, returns tonight: 22 min (213% of 10)
IND availability going into 11/03 · 1 day's restBACK Sheppard back 11/01 after 2, 15 min since (95% of 16)
BACK Jackson back 11/01 after 2, 19 min since (148% of 13)
BACK Nwora back 11/01 after 2, 22 min since (213% of 10)
IND availability going into 11/04 · back-to-backBACK Sheppard back 11/01 after 2, 15 min since (95% of 16)
BACK Jackson back 11/01 after 2, 19 min since (148% of 13)
BACK Nwora back 11/01 after 2, 22 min since (213% of 10)
10/25 @ BKN 114-113 — CLE notes
CLE won 114-113. CLE shot 47% (44 of 94) to BKN's 50%, 17 of 43 from three, and got to the line 10 times to BKN's 26. CLE turned it over 10 times to BKN's 17. The glass went 38-50 against them. Strus led with 27 (9 of 17, 7 of 13 from three); Mitchell added 27, Okoro 18. The hinge was Q1, 37-32: from level to 5 ahead. Strus was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
10/27 vs OKC 105-108 — CLE notes
CLE lost 105-108. CLE shot 41% (38 of 92) to OKC's 46%, 12 of 45 from three. CLE turned it over 13 times to OKC's 18. Mitchell led with 43 (15 of 27, 4 of 11 from three, 9 of 11 at the line); LeVert added 17, Mobley 14. Q3 was theirs, 33-27, the deficit cut from 10 to 4, but the other 3 periods went 81-72 against them. They led by as many as 10.
10/28 vs IND 113-125 — CLE notes
CLE lost 113-125. CLE shot 43% (43 of 99) to IND's 49%, 12 of 31 from three, and went to the line 24 times to IND's 17 — 15 points from the stripe to their 14. Mobley led with 33 (12 of 22, 8 of 10 at the line); LeVert added 31, Strus 21. Q3 was theirs, 38-31, the deficit cut from 11 to 4, but the other 3 periods went 94-75 against them. They led by as many as 15. Niang's -16 in 19 minutes was the worst on the floor.
11/05 vs GSW — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 104 a night and allowing 110, shooting 44 percent and 31 from three, 21 free throws a game; Mitchell at 34 and LeVert at 20 a game. Without Merrill (2 straight). One day's rest. Golden State comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 110, shooting 51 percent and 40 from three, 20 free throws a game; Curry at 32 and Thompson at 17 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Podziemski (2 straight), Jackson-Davis (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Golden State wins, on the road, and the game turns on the arc, Golden State at 40 percent from three to Cleveland's 31 and the glass, where Golden State has been plus-5 a night and Cleveland minus-1. Call it Golden State 113, Cleveland 109, Cleveland keeping it close.
10/25 vs WAS 143-120 — IND notes
IND won 143-120. IND shot 52% (56 of 107) to WAS's 46%, 20 of 43 from three, and got to the line 12 times to WAS's 29. Brown led with 24 (8 of 11, 6 of 8 from three); Haliburton added 20, Mathurin 18. The hinge was Q2, 39-29: IND came in trailing by 5 and left it ahead by 5, and the lead reached 25. Brown was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
10/28 @ CLE 125-113 — IND notes
IND won 125-113. IND shot 49% (48 of 98) to CLE's 43%, 15 of 38 from three, and got to the line 17 times to CLE's 24. Nesmith led with 26 (10 of 16, 5 of 9 from three); Haliburton added 21, Turner 20. The hinge was Q2, 29-12: IND came in trailing by 6 and left it ahead by 11, and the lead reached 15. Nembhard was the night's best plus/minus at +21.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECL C. LeVert
DJ D. Jones
DW D. Wade
EB E. Bates
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
IO I. Okoro
MS M. Strus
PO Porter
SM S. Merrill
TT T. Thompson
INDAN A. Nembhard
AN A. Nesmith
BB B. Brown
BH B. Hield
BM B. Mathurin
JS J. Smith
MT M. Turner
OT O. Toppin
TH T. Haliburton
TM T. McConnell
CLE/IND the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Aaron Nesmith has 26 points for the Pacers in a 125-113 win over the Donovan Mitchell-less Cavaliers
CLEVELAND -- — Aaron Nesmith scored a career-high 26 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, sending the Indiana Pacers to a 125-113 victory over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Cleveland played without three starters, including All-NBA shooting guard Donovan Mitchell (right hamstring soreness). Point guard Darius Garland (left hamstring strain) and center Jarrett Allen (left ankle bone bruise) also remain out.
Nesmith, who signed a three-year contract extension earlier in the week, had 17 points in the first half and finished with nine rebounds. The 6-foot-5 forward was acquired last summer in a trade with Boston, where he spent his first two seasons.
“After I made my first layup, then the second one, I said, ‘This is going to be a good day,’” Nesmith said. “And when I made a 3-pointer, I said it was going to be a really good day. It was all just my teammates finding me.”
Myles Turner had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana, which outscored the Cavaliers 29-12 in the second quarter and won its second straight game to open the season. Bennedict Mathurin and Jalen Smith added 13 points apiece.
Mitchell was walking with a pronounced limp following the Cavaliers’ 108-105 home loss to Oklahoma City on Friday. The four-time All-Star scored 43 points in 42 minutes against the Thunder, but Cleveland blew a nine-point lead in the final two minutes.
“Donovan has some tightness that we don’t want to play around with,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The guys we had went out and competed their tails off.”
Evan Mobley had 33 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for Cleveland, which has dropped two in a row. Caris LeVert started at the point and had 31 points and eight assists, while Max Strus had 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
“I just tried to be aggressive and take some of the single coverage I got,” said LeVert, who scored 19 points in the first seven minutes when Cleveland jumped ahead 27-12. “Obviously, it was next man up for us because we’ve got some guys banged up.”
The Cavaliers pulled within 93-92 early in the fourth on Georges Niang’s 3-pointer, but Nesmith and Buddy Hield answered with back-to-back 3s. Indiana ended any doubt with three minutes left when Haliburton buried consecutive 3-pointers and made a layup.
The Pacers began their season Wednesday with a 143-120 home victory over Washington and lead the league with a 134.0 scoring average. Haliburton ranks first in assists at 12.0 per game.
“Tyrese was amazing in the fourth quarter and played pitch-perfect tonight,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “He found the creases, he found the advantages, and he finished the game off.”
Cavaliers guards Emoni Bates and Craig Porter Jr. were scoreless in their NBA debuts. Bates, the No. 49 draft pick, airballed his first shot, a 3-pointer in transition.