Cleveland Cavaliers @ Indiana Pacers
Monday, March 18, 2024 at 7:00 PM ET
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN | Game ID: 22300983
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
IND 34 20 29 20 103CLE 25 29 36 18 108
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
LeVert, Allen lead short-handed Cavs past Pacers 108-103
INDIANAPOLIS -- — Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen each scored 23 points and the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers fended off a late push from the Indiana Pacers for a 108-103 win on Monday night.
Cleveland played without three regular starters, including star guard Donovan Mitchell , as the Cavs fight to hold onto a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland led by as many as nine in the final quarter before Indiana pulled even with 2:05 remaining. LeVert drove baseline and then pulled up and swished a 9-foot fadeaway jumper to regain the lead. The Pacers didn't score again.
“I'm very comfortable in those situations,” LeVert said. “I knew what I was going to.”
LeVert had 11 assists and eight rebounds. Allen had nine rebounds.
“We've got a lot of guys capable of contributing and making big plays down the stretch,” LeVert said. “Our defense really held up the last three quarters of the game and won us that game. That's a good offensive team. We held them to what, 103? That says a lot about our defense.”
Mitchell, who averages a team-high 27.4 points, remains slowed by a left knee bruise that has bothered him since the break. It’s likely the Cavs will rest him a few more games so he’s ready for the postseason. Forward Evan Mobley (ankle) and guard Max Strus (knee) were also out.
The absences necessitated signing veteran forward Marcus Morris Sr . to a 10-day contract. Morris scored 14 off the bench in 20 minutes.
“It took toughness,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “It took resilience. It took togetherness to make sure that we never splintered, even with adversity and ups and downs.”
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points and 12 rebounds. All-Star Tyrese Haliburton had 14 points and 12 assists. Reserve guard T.J. McConnell scored 14.
“We're just not getting enough stops down the stretch,” Haliburton said. “And we're not capitalizing enough offensively and that starts with me.”
The Cavs entered the night as the conference's No. 3 seed, just behind the Milwaukee Bucks and ahead of the New York Knicks with a few weeks left in the regular season.
The Pacers dropped to the No. 7 seed with the loss, passed by the Philadelphia 76ers who beat the Miami Heat on Monday night.
“We did some good things to fight out of the hole,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “But consistency wasn't there. It's a tough loss.”
The Pacers led by as much as 15 midway through the second quarter but then went scoreless for about four minutes.
“I honestly think we just didn't really make any shots,” McConnell said. “We got a couple of good looks and they just didn't go in.”
The Cavaliers surged with an 11-0 run to tie the game in the final minute of the first half.
“We've got to stay positive,” Carlisle said. “We've got to be more hungry than everybody we're playing right now.”
IND KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECL C. LeVert
CP C. Porter Jr.
DG D. Garland
GN G. Niang
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
MM M. Morris Sr.
SM S. Merrill
TT T. Thompson
INDAN A. Nembhard
AN A. Nesmith
BS B. Sheppard
JS J. Smith
MT M. Turner
OT O. Toppin
PS P. Siakam
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
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