The Cleveland Cavaliers(21-48) lost again on Monday night as they fell to the Pacers(32-36) 111-102 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Cleveland has now lost a season-high 11 straight and has dropped 14 of their last 15 games.
Domantas Sabonis had 21 points and 20 rebounds for Indiana, and Kelani Martin scored a career-high 25 points off the bench.
The Cavaliers’ Isaac Okoro had 20 points and a career-high 10 rebounds and Dean Wade had 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Cleveland had only nine players available on Monday night, and was without Kevin Love, Darius Garland, Larry Nance Jr., and six others, but they fought in this game. The Cavaliers led 60-53 at halftime. However, Indiana would take a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Following an Okoro running layup that tied the game at 91 midway through the fourth quarter, Indiana went on a 14-4 run to take complete control of the game.
While the Cavs lost their 11th straight, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was pleased with the team’s fight against the Pacers.
“They laid it on the line tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “They gave us everything they had tonight. We just came up a little short.”
After the game, some of the talk was about assistant Lindsay Gottlieb, who will be leaving the team to become the head coach for the USC women’s basketball team.
Collin Sexton, who had 25 points, eight assists, and five rebounds on Monday night, had a great relationship with Gottlieb and really enjoyed the advice she gave him.
“She always going to give me the real advice and the true advice that I need,” Sexton said about Gottlieb. “At the end of the day, she’s not going to sugarcoat anything. if she feels like I’m not playing up to my potential, she’ll let me know.”
Cleveland will complete their three-game homestand on Wednesday night when they host the Celtics. The Cavaliers will finish their season on the road when they battle the Wizards on Friday and Brooklyn on Sunday.
