| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- For the first 16 minutes, the Indiana Pacers
were incredible. After that, merely awesome.
Rik Smits scored 16 of his 25 points in a near-perfect first quarter, and Jalen Rose added 23 points as the Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 136-88 Friday night for their fifth straight
victory.
|  | | Jalen Rose goes up for 2 of his 23 points Friday. |
"It was just one of those days when everything goes right,"
Smits said. "They had a tough time hitting shots. But it's
happened to us the other way, too. You can't put your finger on it,
we just got off to a good start right from the beginning."
Dale Davis added 18 points and 20 rebounds, and the final margin
of 48 points was the Pacers' largest ever against the Cavaliers,
topping a 36-point win in 1981.
Smits, 9-for-10 from the field, hit all six of his shots and
four of five free throws in the opening period. His teammates
weren't far off that pace, either, missing only four shots from the
field for a 42-25 lead.
"I don't know if we could have played any better," Pacers
coach Larry Bird said. "It seemed like we built the lead pretty
quick. Everybody played a great game, and it's because they gave
the effort."
Travis Best, who finished with 15 points, hit the first two
baskets of the second period to complete a 15-1 Indiana run.
Baskets by Al Harrington and Davis and a free throw by Harrington
pushed the Pacers' lead to 52-31 before their first miss of the
second quarter, by Sam Perkins eight minutes before halftime.
Indiana built the lead to 69-48 at the half and used another
12-2 run to take a 106-65 lead after three quarters. Rookie
Jonathan Bender, activated off the injury list earlier in the week,
made his NBA debut late in the third quarter and had 10 points in
13 minutes, including a layup and free throw that pushed Indiana's
lead to 47 points early in the fourth.
The Pacers' biggest lead was 50 points -- 122-72 -- on a basket by Chris Mullin with 8:16 to go, and Cleveland came no closer than 43
the rest of the way.
"Fifty points, that's pretty amazing," Smits said. "But, hey,
it's a win. We can't relax, we can't let up, we can't get soft."
Wesley Person led the Cavaliers with 13 points, and Andrew
DeClercq added 12.
"Well, mom said there would be days like this," said
first-year Cavs coach Randy Wittman, an Indianapolis native and
former Pacers player and assistant coach. "I just hope this
doesn't come much more. We just have to grin and bear it and move
on.
"In the first quarter, they set the tone where they couldn't
miss a shot. They hit everything and it just turned into a snowball
effect. ... We got frustrated because everything went in (for
Indiana)," Wittman said.
Despite the Pacers' hot shooting, early turnovers let the
Cavaliers stay close until midway through the first quarter. Reggie
Miller, who had 13 points, hit two free throws, Rose scored on a
fast break and Smits pushed the lead to 26-19 with a three-point
play.
Smits left the game with his second foul late in the opening
period and did not return until 4:56 to go in the second quarter.
By that time, the Pacers' lead was 22 points and the Cavaliers
never recovered.
"When we got down 22, we wanted to make a run, but at the
beginning of the second quarter they beat us to it," Person said.
"They were playing their game and playing unselfishly. I don't
think they were running up the score, they were just playing their
game."
Game notes
Wittman was an All-State player at Indianapolis Ben Davis
High School and played on Indiana's 1981 NCAA championship team.
... The Pacers' last five-game winning streak came with an 81-74
win over Cleveland last February. ... The Cavs' Brevin Knight caught an elbow to the eye and lay on the floor several minutes
late in the second quarter but was back for the start of the second
half. Mark Bryant, diagnosed with a mild right quad tendon strain after an MRI on Thursday, did not dress for the game. ... Smits had
his left shoulder wrapped after the game because of strained
ligaments. The injury was not believed to be serious. ... The
Pacers' 42 points in the first quarter, 69 points in the first half
and 136 points for the game were season highs. ... Cleveland's 33.7
field goal percentage was the lowest by an Indiana opponent this
season.
| |
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
Indiana Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 100
Houston 96
Indiana 136
Cleveland 88
Milwaukee 107
Toronto 91
Golden State 107
Atlanta 99
Charlotte 106
Denver 99
Detroit 107
LA Clippers 83
New York 85
Philadelphia 78
Chicago 71
New Jersey 69
Utah 101
Seattle 83
Miami 107
Sacramento 97
|
