Four observations: Cavs throttle Pacers, who drop 12th of last 14

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INDIANAPOLIS – The Pacers fell behind by 16 at halftime and never recovered as the Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 122-103 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday.

After a win Friday over the Kings, the Pacers have now lost five of their last six games and 12 of their last 14 to fall to 25-30, below the Washington Wizards into 11th place in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs, sitting in fifth, improved to 33-22.

Here are four observations:

Cavs play on their terms

The Cavaliers are the NBA's best defensive team in terms of defensive rating and its slowest moving in terms of pace. When they played the speedy Pacers the first time in December, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he wanted to play the game at the slowest pace possible. They weren't successful in that pursuit either time. The Cavs won the Dec. 16 matchup but the Pacers still scored 112 points, then the Pacers scored 135 in a win on Dec. 27.

Sunday's game was much more of a grind and the Cavs thrived. Their starting big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley created a matchup problem for the Pacers and their small lineup, and made it difficult for the Pacers to make anything happen near the rim. Center Myles Turner (more on him later) caused Cleveland problems, but their guards had a guard time getting buckets.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle took the blame for allowing the Cavaliers to dictate terms.

"Didn't play well," Carlisle said. "I told the guys after the game this is all on me. I didn't do a good job at all preparing them for the kind of game this was going to be and how we had to compete, so I'm taking all the heat for this loss. I gotta do a better job of getting our guys ready."

Report: Members of Pacers' travel party threatened by Ja Morant associates in Memphis

The Cavs held the Pacers to 43.5% shooting (40-of-92), including 25.0% from beyond the 3-point arc (8-of-32). Turner and Buddy Hield were 6-of-15 from beyond the arc, but the rest of the Pacers were 2-of-17. Meanwhile, the Cavs scored 58 points in the paint, shot 52.3% from the floor, hit 15 3-pointers and put all five starters in double figures, with Darius Garland scoring 24, Donovan Mitchell 19, Isaac Okoro 20, Jarrett Allen 18 with 13 rebounds, and Evan Mobley 17.

The Pacers scored 38 points on 16 of 26 shooting in the third quarter. In the other three periods, they shot a combined 36.3% from the floor, scoring 25 points in the first, 21 in the second and just 19 in the fourth.

"We're better when we're getting stops," point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. "We weren't able to get stops and that kept us out of transition and allowed them to set their defense. Kudos to them. They played a heck of a game. A lot of different guys contributed. They just outplayed us tonight."

Myles Turner is bright spot

Turner was dealing with two big men in the paint, but he was the only member of the Pacers who didn't have a problem scoring inside or out. The Pacers' center scored 10 of Indiana's first 15 points in the first quarter and kept rolling.

Turner finished with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 2-of -6 from beyond the 3-point arc and 7-of-7 on free throws. He also finished with 10 rebounds, three blocks and a steal.

"An attack mind-set," Turner said when asked what worked for him. "I feel like whenever I see my opportunities to try to be as aggressive as possible and have quick recognition. I was going early."

It was Turner's third straight double-double, his ninth straight double-figure scoring game and the fifth time in the last seven games he's scored at least 20 points.

"He's continued to be consistent," Carlisle said. "He's playing well. His reads are good. He gathered and went strong in a lot of instances tonight. He's doing that better and better. He banged in a couple 3s when we needed them."

Tyrese Haliburton has nine assists in one quarter

Like everyone who faces the Pacers, the Cavs focused on stopping Tyrese Haliburton, and they were more successful than most. He finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting – not a bad night in terms of percentage, but on a night they were struggling, they would have liked to have more attempts from him. However, the Cavs made them hard to find. Darius Garland did excellent work on Haliburton as the primary defender, and Mobley and Allen did strong work switching on to him in ball screen situations.

"They did a good job of controlling me in the pick-and-roll," Haliburton said. "... I think they just had less help on the weak side. Trying to control it more 2-on-2 which they haven't done the past two games. It was a little bit of a different coverage. I'll look through it in film and try to figure it out. They definitely mixed it up compared to the last two games."

Still, Haliburton was outstanding in the Pacers' best offensive period. They scored 38 third-quarter points on 16-of-26 shooting. They had 11 assists on those 16 field goals, and Haliburton had a remarkable nine in that period to finish with 11 in the game. It was his 24th double-double of the season, which puts him 13th in the NBA. Only problem was, the Cavaliers scored 36 points in the quarter and the Pacers didn't gain much ground.

Daniel Theis plays his third straight game

The Pacers didn't have Daniel Theis available for the first 52 games of the season, so they're apparently not looking to give him days off now.

After finally being cleared to play last week following November knee surgery, Theis appeared in his third game in four nights on Sunday and continued to show he has value as a wide-bodied center who can rebound, set screens and score on occasion. He played 15 minutes and scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, including a two-handed jam on a first-half drive from the right elbow.

Unlike Friday night, when Theis got all of the center minutes behind Turner, the Pacers made a point to get others on the floor. Isaiah Jackson played 8 minutes and Jalen Smith played 6, getting on the floor for the first time since Jan. 27.

Also worth nothing on the injury front: Guard Chris Duarte was a late scratch with a sore left ankle. He was available for Friday night's loss to the Kings and did not play, but Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said pregame Sunday that was "a coach's decision" and did not note that the injury had anything to do with it. Duarte missed six weeks in November and December with a sprained left ankle.

"He was in the weight room yesterday," Carlisle said. "As you guys have noticed, when he takes off with the left ankle, a lot of times he'll come down and walk it off and be OK after a time or two down the court. During a workout yesterday, his off-day, it bothered him. He was hoping it wouldn't bother him, but it bothered him before the game so he was unavailable. We're hopeful this is a short-term thing."

Cavaliers 122, Pacers 103

CLEVELAND (122): E.Mobley 7-12 3-4 17, Okoro 7-9 3-3 20, Allen 9-11 0-0 18, Garland 8-13 4-4 24, Mitchell 6-18 5-5 19, Diakite 0-0 0-0 0, Osman 3-12 0-0 9, Stevens 0-0 0-0 0, Wade 2-4 0-0 6, Lopez 1-2 0-0 2, Neto 0-0 0-0 0, Rubio 3-7 0-0 7. Totals 46-88 15-16 122.

INDIANA (103): Hield 6-14 0-0 16, Nesmith 3-10 0-0 6, Turner 9-18 7-7 27, Haliburton 5-10 4-6 15, Nembhard 2-4 1-1 6, Jackson 1-2 0-1 2, Taylor 1-1 0-0 2, Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Theis 3-6 1-2 7, Mathurin 4-11 1-1 9, Brissett 1-6 1-2 3, McConnell 3-6 0-2 6. Totals 40-92 15-22 103.

CLE 27 35 36 24 — 122

IND 25 21 38 19 — 103

3-Point Goals—Cleveland 15-37 (Garland 4-6, Okoro 3-4, Osman 3-8, Wade 2-4, Mitchell 2-10, Rubio 1-3, E.Mobley 0-1, Lopez 0-1), Indiana 8-32 (Hield 4-9, Turner 2-6, Haliburton 1-2, Nembhard 1-2, Jackson 0-1, McConnell 0-1, Smith 0-1, Theis 0-1, Brissett 0-2, Mathurin 0-2, Nesmith 0-5). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Cleveland 46 (Allen 13), Indiana 42 (Turner 10). Assists_Cleveland 33 (Rubio 9), Indiana 27 (Haliburton 11). Total Fouls_Cleveland 20, Indiana 20. A_17,274 (20,000)

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Cavs: Pacers go cold, lose to Cleveland in NBA action