The Indiana Pacers defeated the Cleveland Cavs 108-93, snapping a 12-game win streak. Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson expressed frustration with the loss. After handing the Oklahoma City Thunder their first loss in 16 tries, Atkinson and Cleveland beat the Toronto Raptors 132-126 but fell short in Sunday’s loss.
After the 15-point loss, Atkinson said his team earned it, per Sports Illustrated’s Spencer German.
“It was one of those nights, but we kinda deserved it,” Atkinson asserted. “Giving up second-chance points, fifty-fifty balls.
“We’ve gotta give better halftime speeches, I think. What were we up at halftime 13? Our standards gotta be higher like I think we tend to relax when we get these leads.”
The Pacers outscored the Cavs 31-22 in the final frame. Indiana also out-rebounded its opponent 50-44 while shooting at a 46.7% clip from the floor.
“The easy out for us would be ‘we didn’t make shot,’ said Atkinson. “Maybe, it’s happened maybe two or three times all year. What disappointed me was our first half was phenomenal defensively, and then, in the second half, we fell off, so we couldn’t sustain our defense. The shots, make, miss, we live with days like that, with nights like that but just disappointed [in] our defensive mindset in that third quarter, and really the whole second half.”
Andrew Nembhard’s 19 points led six Pacers in double figures, including Pascal Siakam (18), Myles Turner (15), Bennedict Mathurin, and Obi Toppin, who both scored a dozen. Darius Garland led the Cavs with 20 points, and Donovan Mitchell scored 19. Evan Mobley added a double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds), and Jarrett Allen finished with 11 and nine rebounds.
Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson and his squad will face the Pacers in a rematch on Tuesday.
Darius Garland’s All-Star declaration after Cavs win vs Thunder
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Cavs guard Darius Garland made his All-Star plea after a 129-122 win against the Thunder. All-Star Donovan Mitchell is a shoo-in for this year’s All-Star Game. However, Garland believes the Cavs, who are 33-5, the best record in the NBA, should be represented by four All-Stars.
Garland held back on his take. But after beating the Thunder, he finally addressed it during his postgame media availability, per 92.3 The Fan’s Danny Cunningham.
“I’ve been trying to be as humble as possible, but yeah, I should be an All-Star. Yes. There should be four of us on this team that’s All-Stars,” Garland said.
In the second return of All-Star voting, Mitchell finished second among all guards in the Eastern Conference with 1,181,310 votes, Garland was ninth with 238,358 votes, and Evan Mobley was eighth among the frontcourt.
