Cavaliers bench drops double overtime contest with Pacers 126-118.

Cavaliers bench drops double overtime contest with Pacers 126-118

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Sunday the Cleveland Cavaliers (64-18, 34-7 home) concluded the regular season as they took on the Indiana Pacers (50-32, 21-20 road) on fan appreciation day at Rocket Arena. Cavs fans have sold out Rocket Arena 133 consecutive times which is the longest current streak in the NBA and the second longest in Cleveland sports history behind the Cleveland Indians/Guardians streak of 455 sell out in the late 1990’s into the 2000’s. The 19,432 in attendance had a great time as they always do even though the final score was not in the Cavs favor as the Pacers prevailed in double overtime 126-118.

The Cavs were without nine players (Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome, Sam Merrill, Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, Dean Wade) on Sunday but center Jarrett Allen played. Allen completed his preseason goal to play in all 82 games. Allen was unfairly criticized by fans and some in local media and even former Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff for not being tough enough last season when he missed several playoff games with broken ribs.

41 seconds into the game Allen picked up a foul and was replaced on the floor by Cavs fan favorite Tristan Thompson. Allen left to a loud ovation from the sellout crowd and raised his fists to celebrate his 82 game achievements as he got high fives from his teammates. The game was close early with the Cavs leading 9-6 with 8:47 left after Craig Porter Jr. After being down 10-9 with 7:01 in the first quarter the Cavs regained the lead 11-10 when Jaylon Tyson drove the lane. The game continued to be close for most of the first quarter with the Cavs taking a 22-18 lead with 3:18 left when Emoni Bates hit a three. Then with 2:44 left Jaylon Tyson got into the act and hit a three extending the Cavs lead to 25-18. With 1:42 left, the Cavs lead was 27-20 when Luke Travers got on the board scoring in the lane. When the first quarter ended the Cavs led 32-26. Tyson led all scorers with 10 first quarter points. Myles Turner paced Indiana with eight points. The Cavs outrebounded the Pacers 13-9 in the first 24 minutes.

With 8:59 left in the second quarter, the Cavs took a 44-30 lead and Bates hit another three. With 3:56 left in the second quarter, the Cavs took a 56-36 lead when Javonte Green stole the ball and took it all the way to the other end for a dunk. When the quarter ended with the Cavs lead at 61-44. Tyson led all scorers with 17 first half points. Aaron Nesmith was leading Indiana with 10 in the first 24 minutes. The Cavs shot 52% (23 of 45) from the field in the first half. The Pacers on the other hand shot only 38% (18 of 48). The Cavs shot 48% (10 of 21) from three-point range while the Pacers shot 23% (5 of 22).

With 7:10 left in the third quarter Tyson hit a three pointer, and the Cavs lead was 74-47. In the final 7:10 of the third the Pacers outscored the Cavs 20-11 to cut the Cleveland lead to 85-67 when time ran out. Tyson was still leading all scorers with 21 points through three while Jarace Walker was leading the Pacers with 11 points.

The finals quarter was another chance for the far end of the Cavs bench, mostly guys on two-way contracts to get a lot of minutes. Travers, Bates, Tyson, Chuma Okeke and Nae’Qwan Tomlin were on the floor to start the final quarter. With 5:32 left in the regular season the Pacers cut the Cavs lead to 96-84 and Cavs coach took a timeout. During the timeout Donovan Mitchell, Isaac Okoro, Darius Garland and Max Struss tossed t-shirts into the crowd. The crowd was celebrating a team that gave them the kind of enjoyment that doesn’t happen every season in pro sports in Cleveland. With 3:16 left the Pacers cut the Cavs lead to 98-95 and then to 98-97 with 2:45 left on a fast break basket by Akron University graduate Enrique Freeman. Freeman is a Cleveland native and played high school basketball at St. Martin de Porres in Cleveland. After walking on at Akron and playing for four years for the Zips he was drafted in the second round (50th overall) in the 2024 NBA draft. The Cavs scored the next five points to take a 103-97 lead with 1:28 left on a three pointer by Bates. With the Cavs up 105-101 Cleveland took a timeout when Bates could not inbound the ball with :39.1 left in regulation. With :20,7 left Quenton Jackson scored cutting the Cleveland lead to 105-103. The Cavs called a timeout with :17.3 left in the quarter. After Travers inbounded the ball Porter turned it over and Indiana scored with :10.5 left to tie the game on a dunk by Ray J Dennis. Bates then took an ill advised three at the other end and the Pacers got the rebound with :02.5 left and took a timeout. The Pacers did not score after the timeout and the game was headed to overtime.

In the early minutes of the overtime, it seemed as if neither team wanted to score. Finally, with 3:02 left in OT Tyson hit a long jumper to give the Cavs a 107-105 lead. With 1:09 left Tyson hit his second jumper of the OT to give Cleveland a 109-105 lead. The Pacers appeared to score when Tyson was called for goaltending. However, it was overturned on review. Porter was also called for a foul on the play, the Cavs challenged it and was overturned but Tyson was called for a personal foul. Queston Jackson made both free throws to cut the Cavs lead to 109-107 with 1:05 remaining. With :42.9 left Johnny Furphy (no relation to former Cleveland Force star Keith Furphy) scored on a put back to tie the game 109-109. The Cavs turned the ball over on the next possession and with :25.0 left the Pacers took a timeout. As time ran out the score was tied and on fan appreciation day they were getting a second overtime.

The Pacers wasted no time scoring in the second overtime and took a 111-109 lead with 4:41 left when Tony Bradley scored on a layup. Tyson tied the game at 111-111 with 3:34 left and the Pacers then took a 113-111 lead. After the Cavs failed to score Tomlin fouled out on the other end and the Pacers scored on a jumper by Dennis to take a 115-111 lead with 2:38 left. Dennis then hit a three pointer with 2:08 left to give Indiana a 118-111 lead. With 1:26 left Bates hit a three to pull the Cavs to within four at 118-114. After Indiana scored to go up 120-114 Tyson scored at the other end to cut the lead to 120-116. Indians then scored to go up by six and that was enough as time ran out on a game that was much more competitive than most thought it would be the Pacers prevailed 126-118.

Tyson led all scorers with a career high 31 points in his third career start. Bates also had 25 points, which was also his career high, and Tomlin had 24 points also a career high for him. Thompson also showed he still has it on the boards as he pulled down 20 rebounds a season high and just two boards short of his career high 22.

The Cavs literally gave the fans their shirts (jersey’s) off their backs after the game as each player presented a fan with their jersey to celebrate fan appreciation day.

Now the wait begins to see who the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference is and who the Cavs will face and what day their first playoff game at home will be. Their opponent could be any of the four play-in teams which consist of the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks or Chicago Bulls..