The Associated Press
CLEVELAND–Blown big leads. Defensive breakdowns. Bad shots.
None of it means anything to LeBron James.
The only score that matters is 2-0.
Kyrie Irving scored 37 points, with Kevin Love adding 27 and James 25, as the Cleveland Cavaliers avoided another fourth-quarter collapse in Game 2, beating the Indiana Pacers 117-111 last night to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
After giving up a late lead and squeaking out the opener by just a point, James and Co. showed more intensity on defence, more swagger in general, and held on to win their 10th-straight first-round game over the past three seasons.
However, the defending champs, following a pattern that began late in the regular season, nearly gave away an 18-point lead in the fourth as the Pacers crawled within four in the final minute before Cleveland closed it out at the foul line.
Still, James came away encouraged. The Cavs are finding their groove.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “I’d much rather have an 18-point lead than not have a lead at all.”
Game 3 goes Thursday night in Indianapolis.
Paul George scored 32 and Jeff Teague 23 for Indiana, which showed more fight but now has a steep hill to climb to get back in the series.
Cleveland is 12-0 when starting 2-0 in the post-season.
In the third quarter, Cleveland took advantage of a mismatch underneath and pounded the ball inside to Love, who scored 10-straight and also drew a charging foul on Lance Stephenson in a span of two minutes as the Cavs opened an 89-70 lead.
“I thought we lost our composure and got frantic out there,” coach Nate McMillan said of his team’s third-quarter meltdown.
“We lost our poise and wasn’t calm during that third quarter. And that was big.”
The Pacers regrouped, ripped off 13-straight points, and were within 113-109 when George hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds left.
Now they’re heading home in a hole they still believe they can climb from.
“We know what’s at stake,” C.J. Miles stressed.
“We’re going to go out there, keep trying to give them hell, keep competing, and we’ll get ourselves a win.”
Elsewhere in the NBA playoffs, San Antonio beat Memphis 96-82 to lead that series 2-0.
