Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers
· National Basketball Association
Donovan Mitchell scores 38 points, playoff-bound Cavaliers beat Pacers 117-108
Thomas Bryant added 14 points and 10 rebounds in his first start of the season for Cleveland, which didn’t take its initial lead until the third quarter. It went ahead for good early in the fourth at 99-96 on Nae’Qwan Tomlin's 3-pointer, eventually going up by 15.
The playoff-bound Cavaliers (49-29) reduced their magic number for home-court advantage in the first round to one, despite resting their starting frontcourt of Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Sam Merrill. Mitchell made 16 of 27 shots and had six rebounds and six assists in 33 minutes.
Fourth-place Cleveland is four games ahead of Atlanta in the Eastern Conference with four to play. It hosts the Hawks on Wednesday night, then plays at Atlanta on Friday night.
Obi Toppin scored a season-high 21 points with eight rebounds, and Micah Potter had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers (18-60). Two-way forward Jalen Slawson scored a career-best 19 points.
The Pacers have the second-worst record in the NBA, one game in front of Washington.
Slawson scored 14 points and had four 3-pointers as the Pacers built a 47-35 advantage early in the second. Indiana made eight threes in the first half.
Indiana carried a 58-55 lead into the break as Potter had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Harden scored 19 and Mitchell had 15 points for the Cavaliers.
Cavaliers: At Memphis on Monday night.
Regular Season Series
CLE wins series 4-0
Recent Plays
| 4th 0.0 |  |
End of Game | 108 - 117 |
| 4th 0.0 | |
End of the 4th Quarter | 108 - 117 |
| 4th 8.1 |  |
shot clock turnover | 108 - 117 |
| 4th 33.0 |  |
Kobe Brown makes 25-foot three point jumper (Jay Huff assists) | 108 - 117 |
| 4th 55.7 | |
Taelon Peter defensive rebound | 105 - 117 |
Statistics
 IND |
 CLE |
|
|---|---|---|
| 33-86 | FG | 43-92 |
| 38 | Field Goal % | 47 |
| 17-44 | 3PT | 16-47 |
| 39 | Three Point % | 34 |
| 25-29 | FT | 15-19 |
| 86 | Free Throw % | 79 |
| 43 | Rebounds | 46 |
| 12 | Offensive Rebounds | 9 |
| 31 | Defensive Rebounds | 37 |
| 28 | Assists | 26 |
| 7 | Steals | 8 |
| 1 | Blocks | 6 |
| 10 | Turnovers | 9 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 1 |
| 10 | Total Turnovers | 10 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 8 | Points Conceded Off Turnovers | 4 |
| 9 | Fast Break Points | 11 |
| 24 | Points in Paint | 54 |
| 15 | Fouls | 20 |
| 12 | Largest Lead | 15 |
| 9 | Lead Changes | 9 |
| 72 | Percent Led | 24 |
Cleveland Cavaliers Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Peyton Watson, G | Day-To-Day | Sep 25 |
Indiana Pacers Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Furphy, G | Out | Feb 9 |
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