Cavaliers get break with back-to-backs vs. Knicks https://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/cavaliers-get-break-with-back-to-backs-vs-knicks-040818

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Cavaliers get break with back-to-backs vs. Knicks
STATS
Apr 8, 2018 at 10:51p ET
A game behind the Philadelphia 76ers in the race for the third seed in the NBA Eastern Conference,
the Cleveland Cavaliers long ago received a gift from the schedulers: home-and-home matchups
against the woeful and wounded New York Knicks to end the regular season, starting Monday night at
Madison Square Garden.
Whether the Cavaliers can catch the scorching 76ers remains to be seen. Philadelphia is the NBA’s
hottest team with a 14-game winning streak — including a 132-130 victory over Cleveland on Friday —
and with games at Atlanta and at home against Milwaukee still on the schedule.
But the Cavaliers have their eyes on that crucial prize, made even more crucial by No. 2-seed Boston’s
injury problems. A third seed would ensure a second-round matchup with Boston or the No. 7 seed. A
fourth seed could mean a meeting with the No. 1 seed Toronto Raptors.
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“I always think you try to take the easy way out, it’s always going to come back and bite you,”
Cleveland’s Kevin Love said after losing to Philadelphia. “Both teams played extremely hard tonight,
we both wanted to get the higher seed no matter who we’re playing. Some matchups work in your
favor, I guess, but I just think taking the easy way out in some cases is not the way to go.”
The Cavaliers’ loss to the 76ers revealed a glaring weakness that seemed to have been cured.
Cleveland gave up 132 points.
The Cavs entered that matchup on a five-game winning streak and with wins in 10 of 11. The first five
wins were scary — the Cavaliers allowed an average of 113 points per game — but in the six games
before the loss to Philadelphia, Cleveland had allowed 102 points per game.
“We’re a prideful team, and the only way to get back in was be scrappy, play a little bit more physical
and hit more shots,” James said. “We were down 30, and for us to come all the way back shows what
were capable of doing. But every offensive rebound here, every missed shot. … We turned the ball over,
they made us pay, and they were flying.”
Luckily for the Cavs — at least for the next two games — the Knicks are one of the worst offensive
teams in the NBA.
The Knicks have gone 4-16 in their last 20 games, averaging 105.5 points per game, and that includes
128-, 124-, and 122-point nights. Remove those and New York averaged 102.
Hurting the Knicks: Tim Hardaway Jr. (ankle) remains out.
Solution for New York: The emergence of rookie second-round pick Damyean Dotson, a two-way
player with the G-League’s Westchester Knicks. Dotson had 30 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes in
the team’s surprising 122-98 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday.
“It’s amazing. Just trying to stay the course, keep believing, keep working hard,” Dotson told reporters
after becoming the first Knicks rookie to put up a 30-10 game since Patrick Ewing in 1985-86.
“Eventually something good will happen. It’s playing the right way, believing in myself, believing in the
development, coming from the G-League, coming from back and forth, playing.”
Central Cleveland Cavaliers East NBA
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Second-half surge lifts Pacers to 92-90 win over Cavaliers in Game
3
AP
FOX Sports Ohio
Apr 21, 2018 at 12:14a ET

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers kept insisting this team was different.
Anyone who doubted them coming into the playoffs understands now.
On Friday, the one-year anniversary of a historic playoff collapse against Cleveland, Indiana flipped the
script by rallying from a 17-point halftime deficit and held on for a 92-90 victory over the Cavaliers to
take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. They can take command of the series by winning Sunday on
their home court.
“Last year’s team, I don’t know if we would have gone down 17, I don’t know if we would have
overcome it,” forward Thaddeus Young said. “But this team, we’ve been resilient all year. We’ve
overcome adversity.”
And on Friday they did it against a Cavaliers team that was 39-0 in the regular season when leading
after three quarters.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 of his playoff career-high 30 points in the second half, finishing 7 of 9 on
3-pointers. Victor Oladipo added 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Bogdanovic also spent most of the game defending LeBron James, who finished with 28 points, 12
rebounds, eight assists and six turnovers. He joined Michael Jordan as the only players in league history
with 100 double-doubles in the postseason. Jordan had 109.
James almost single-handedly rallied his team twice from seven-point deficits in the final 3 minutes.
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The three-time defending Eastern Conference champs were outscored 52-33 over the final 24
minutes.
“We were more aggressive in the first half. We had tempo, they didn’t,” James said. “Then they were
more aggressive in the second half, they had tempo, and we didn’t.”
Young is one of the few players still around from the record-breaking, 26-point collapse last year,
which is one reason coach Nate McMillan has continually opted not to discuss it.
After the Pacers cut the 57-40 halftime deficit to 69-63 at the end of three, the Pacers continued to
apply pressure and eventually Bogdanovic finally broke through with a four-point play that gave
Indiana an 81-77 lead with 6:10 left. It was Indiana’s first lead since midway through the first quarter.
He was far from finished.
Bogdanovic knocked down another 3 to make it a seven-point game.
Then, after James countered with seven straight to tie the score, Bogdanovic scored on a layup and hit
his final 3 before Young’s layup made it 91-84 with 53 seconds to go.
James and Kevin Love made back-to-back 3s to make it 91-90, and Cleveland got one more chance
after Darren Collison missed the second free throw with 5 seconds left.
But J.R. Smith‘s 38-foot heave came up short.

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“It’s great to be on the other end,” Myles Turner said. “You never want to get down that far and have to
try and come back. To be down in that position is not ideal. The resiliency of this team, it’s
unbelievable.”
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: Have lost five of seven to the Pacers and are 0-3 in Indianapolis this season. … Cleveland is
37-7 in the playoffs against Eastern Conference teams since James returned in 2015. … Love finished
with 19 points and six rebounds despite playing with an injured left thumb. … George Hill scored nine
points in the first quarter and finished with 13. … James has 12 straight double-doubles against the
Pacers. He also played in his 221st career playoff game to move past Kobe Bryant for No. 6 on the
career list.
Pacers: Have won only two of their last seven playoff games against the Cavs. … Indiana is now 12-3 in
games decided by three or fewer points this season. … The Pacers have rallied from deficits of 15 or
more points nine times. … Bogdanovic tied the Pacers’ playoff record for 3s made, which was done four
other times.
TEMPERS FLARE
Indiana’s fans booed the refs loudly throughout the first half. Then they really got upset after watching
Oladipo crash hard to the floor on the final play of the half.
No foul was called and Oladipo slapped the floor before getting up and complaining.
If that wasn’t enough to upset the crowd, Larry Nance Jr. walked over and started yelling at Oladipo.
That’s when Young stepped in and tried to peacemaker.
Nobody was called for a technical foul.
HOW BAD WAS IT?
Whether the verbal jabs provided any fuel at halftime, the Cavs certainly weren’t the same in the
second half, when they were 13 of 28 from the field, 5 of 22 on 3s and had 10 turnovers.

6. 4/25/2018 Cavaliers get break with back-to-backs vs. Knicks (Apr 08, 2018) | FOX Sports
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James scored 15 points over the final two quarters, while his teammates accounted for 18. Following
the game, James was asked about getting more support from his teammates.
“What are you guys looking for? You think I’m going to throw my teammates under the bus?” James
said before the reporter explained that’s not what he meant. “I’m not about that. Guys have got to play
better — including myself. I had six turnovers tonight. I was horrible in the third quarter. I couldn’t make
a shot. If I make some better plays in the third quarter (it’s a different game).”
THEY SAID IT
Cavaliers: “I’m confident,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “I think if we play the way we did in the first half, we
can definitely win. We’ve got to win come Sunday.”
Pacers: “A lot of teams have been close with LeBron but he ends up winning,” McMillan said. “So we’re
not in this thing to be close.”
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