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The Cavaliers have ended their three-game losing streak. The Ohioans beat the Pacers 108-104 this morning to clinch their first win since Ricky Rubio’s injury, a triumph that allows them to remain in fifth place in the East and delve into the bad moment of Indiana. Carlisle’s team posted their fourth loss in a row this time around, and it seems increasingly destined for a nondescript season without much to fight for.
The visitors, however, came to dominate the game in several stages, and even threatened to break it when they took an 11-point lead late in the third quarter (73-84), but the Cavs reacted quickly not only by preventing the distance was to more, but recovering it completely. Bickerstaff’s men closed the quarter with a 15-0 run in the last 3 minutes, taking control of the match and landing a moral blow that allowed them to continue expanding distances in the last period.
Part of that reaction came from Kevin Love, who closed the third quarter with 8 consecutive points, including a triple over the horn. The power forward ended the match with 20 points, being the second of Cleveland’s in that facet only behind the 24 that Evan Mobley added with a sensational 11/16 in shooting from the field. For his part, Jarrett Allen was third with 18 points, to which he added 11 rebounds, making the taller men of the Cavs make up for absences on the perimeter and become a nightmare for the Indiana defense.
“We all want Evan to shoot more because we have the feeling that he is going to score each and every one of his shots,” Allen said, giving support and recognition to his teammate. “We believe that if he continues to be aggressive, he will help us win more games. Today we really needed the boost he gave us.
In the Pacers, Domantas Sabonis had one of his best performances of the season, reaching 32 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. The great night of the Lithuanian, however, was not enough to add the victory, since those of Indianapolis paid the numerous losses (Brogdon, LeVert, Duarte, Lamb and Bitadze) and were quite short of troops. Without going any further, although all the members of the starting quintet finished in double digits in annotation, including the undrafted Duane Washington Jr., who scored 20 points in the sixth game of his career, the substitutes barely reached 12 points to 45 off the Cavs bench, which speaks to the depth of each team.
Carlisle, however, considered that the key had been the aforementioned partial at the end of the third quarter, after which his team did not see each other again: “That streak has made the difference, and it has been a very hard moment. However, I am very proud of the way the players have competed, which makes this defeat especially painful considering the level of effort shown, “he concluded.
(Cover photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
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