Pacers use balanced attack to hold off Cavs

[January 09, 2019]  Thaddeus Young matched his season best of 26 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 23 as the Indiana Pacers held on for a 123-115 victory over the host Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

Victor Oladipo tallied 17 points as the Pacers won for the 14th time in the past 17 games. Domantas Sabonis added 15 points and nine rebounds and Cory Joseph scored 11 points.

Jordan Clarkson scored 26 points and Alec Burks added 19 as the Cavaliers dropped their 10th consecutive game. Tristan Thompson had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Cedi Osman also scored 15, Collin Sexton had 14 and Cameron Payne scored 10.

Cavaliers guard Rodney Hood (Achilles) missed his second straight game. Pacers center Myles Turner (shoulder) also missed his second consecutive contest.

Indiana shot 53.8 percent from the field, including 10 of 26 from behind the arc. The Pacers committed just six turnovers and led by as many as 26 points.

Cleveland had 16 turnovers, shot 53.9 percent from the field and made 13 of 29 3-point attempts.

The Cavaliers used a 9-0 run to trail just 110-105 after Thompson's inside hoop with 2:17 left.

But Young converted a three-point play 15 seconds later and added another hoop with 40.2 seconds remaining to help the Pacers thwart Cleveland's comeback attempt.

The Cavaliers trailed by 26 points early in the third quarter before getting back into the game.

Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) dribbles against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton (2) in the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland trimmed Indiana's lead to single digits at 96-87 when Ante Zizic hit two free throws with 9:18 remaining.

A short time later, Young converted a layup and Joseph nailed a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 106-92 lead with 6:01 to play.

The Pacers shot 56.3 percent while building a 63-43 halftime lead.

Bogdanovic had 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and he got Indiana off to a good start by scoring 12 points in the first 4:45.

The Pacers' lead reached 26 points when Joseph buried a 3-pointer to make it 57-31 with 4:34 remaining in the half.

Cleveland finished the third quarter with a 15-5 push to trail 92-79 entering the final stanza.

--Field Level Media

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