INDIANAPOLIS: One explosive third quarter was enough to give the Cavaliers a victory Wednesday, ensure a winning record on this difficult four-game trip and earn the Cavs’ stars another night off.
Kyle Korver and Kyrie Irving each scored 29 points and the Cavs snapped the Indiana Pacers’ seven-game winning streak with a 132-117 victory. It was their fourth-consecutive victory to begin February after a miserable January.
LeBron James scored 25 points, passed for nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. James, Irving and Kevin Love probably played their last game on this trip that started last week in New York and also included an overtime win at Washington on Monday.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said after the game he’s likely going to rest all three at Oklahoma City.
“Probably. I’m not sure yet. It’s a good possibility,” Lue said. “We’ll see how the guys feel. When we’re playing good like this, guys might want to play. We’ll just see how they feel.”
This is the Cavs’ only trip to Oklahoma City. All three stars didn’t travel to Memphis for the Cavs’ lone trip there earlier this season. Lue later jokingly referred to that game as a “forfeit.”
James doesn’t believe missing one game will disrupt the rhythm the Cavs have created to begin the new month.
“We know what we got. We know what we’re doing,” James said. “If Coach Lue decides to sit us, that’s fine. We’ll be ready to go the next game if he decides to sit us.”
James, Irving and Love combined for 23 of the Cavs’ 40 points in the third quarter Wednesday, when they turned a 63-57 halftime deficit into a 97-81 lead entering the fourth. As usual, they gave more than half of it back in the fourth before holding on.
Love scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Tristan Thompson also grabbed 10 rebounds. Korver, whose motion has appeared to slow down in the Cavs system as he has evolved into more of a standstill shooter, made consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 124-108 and clear the arena with 2:22 to play.
Korver also moved ahead of Jason Kidd and into seventh place on the all-time list for 3-pointers made in a career with 1,992. Kidd retired with 1,988.
The Cavs were without Iman Shumpert, who missed the game with a sprained left ankle suffered in Monday’s win against the Wizards. He discarded the walking boot and crutches he needed to leave Verizon Center on Monday and even was on the court getting shots up before Wednesday’s morning shoot-around at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
But Shumpert has already been ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Thunder, meaning the Cavs could be down to 10 players for the final game of this trip.
The Pacers had won seven in a row because they ranked among the league leaders the last two weeks in several defensive categories. But the Cavs shot 55 percent Wednesday and made 16 3-pointers. They’re averaging 16.5 3-pointers per game during this four-game February winning streak.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.