The Cavs rebounded with a bad loss in Houston with a good win in Indiana.
Fresh off of an ugly loss to the Houston Rockets over the weekend, the Cleveland Cavaliers showed heart against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night and won 108-103.
Nightly Notables
Caris LeVert was the star for Cleveland against the Indiana Pacers, scoring 23 points to go with 11 assists and 8 rebounds. Jarrett Allen added 23 points and 9 rebounds of his own. Georges Niang (13 points), Darius Garland (13 points), Sam Merrill (11 points) and Marcus Morris (14 points in his Cavs debut) also finished in double figures.
Well, that happened…
LeVert’s night was important because it offset a rough night for Garland and Donovan Mitchell’s absence.
What LeVert provided in his game — scoring inside the arc, putting pressure on the Pacers’ defense, finding open teammates — was exactly what the Cavs needed. It wasn’t the best Cavs offensive night, but it was good enough. Sometimes, that’s what you need.
This is why LeVert is on the Cavs’ roster. Yes, what he’s best at overlaps with Garland and Mitchell — there’s only so much room for another guy who wants to play with the ball in his hands and isn’t a real off-ball threat. But LeVert, when he’s on, can eat innings and fill in the gaps. It’s a good guy to have around even if the fit isn’t always perfect.
Big Picture
On top of this win being gutsy — on top of Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley and Dean Wade were all out among rotation pieces — this gives Cleveland a tiebreaker over the Milwaukee Bucks in the race for the two seed. Milwaukee still has the advantage in most models. But if the two teams do end up with the same record, then Cleveland wins out and gets the two seed by virtue of having a better record in the division. That’s something.
Up next: The Cavs are at home on Wednesday against the Miami Heat. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.