During LeBron James' final two seasons with the Miami Heat, Indiana emerged as the biggest roadblock on the quest to the NBA Finals. The Pacers are different now, swapping size and bulk for athleticism, quickness and spacing.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- During LeBron James' final two seasons with the Miami Heat, Indiana emerged as the biggest roadblock en route to the NBA Finals.
They were tough and rugged, a team that never backed down. The Pacers are different now -- in some ways.
They swapped size and bulk for athleticism, quickness and spacing.
But once again the Paul George-led Pacers proved a tough test in the first meeting. After 21 lead changes and 15 ties, James and his team extended the winning streak to six games with a hard-fought 101-97 victory.
It's clear that won't-back-down attitude still burns despite Indiana changing its on-court look.
Here are five observations:
Rivalry renewed - The marquee matchup featured James and George, who is healthy after a gruesome leg injury cost him all but six games during the 2014-15 season.
"He's so talented man," James said of Indy's star. "His ability to shoot the ball, handle the ball and make midrange shots. When he hurt himself I was very hurt for him. Had so many battles in the postseason when I was in Miami and now that we are in the same division we're going to have some more. It's great to see where he's at."
George edged James in the box score, pouring in 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. The All-Star swingman added 11 rebounds and six assists. As for James, he scored a team-high 29 points on 10-of-23 shooting. He also went 9-of-14 from the free throw line, hitting a pair in the closing seconds to clinch the game, before sharing an embrace and words with George.
"It was just, 'Welcome back.'" George said of James' message. "It's good to have you back in this league."
George shares the same appreciation for James. He always tries to bring his best in the head-to-head matchup. Even in the loss, George felt pretty good about the way his team competed against the East's preeminent force.
"I think we match up well against this team," George said. "This team doesn't really scare us. They had to come out and play a full game the same way we did. They've been together for some time now. We're still just forming and still learning each other. This was a tough matchup for us with a team that's well in sync, so I think this is definitely a positive for us going forward."
Those are strong words from a guy whose team missed the postseason a year ago and currently sits under .500. But he's the unquestioned leader of the Pacers now, especially after frontcourt mainstays Roy Hibbert and David West moved on this summer. George needs to bring that kind of attitude, the same one that helped Indiana challenge James' old Heat squads.
"It's on us to get where we want to get to," George said. "It's all about who gets the last laugh when we're in the NBA Finals or playing against the Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals or whoever."
The Cavs were the better team on Sunday and they will only improve once Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert return to the lineup.
George, however, has a point about his team still finding its way. During the off-season, the Pacers formed their new identity. That takes time.
"Definitely play way faster, get up and down, push the tempo and they have the players and athletes to play that style of basketball," Tristan Thompson said after a 16-point, eight-rebound performance. "They have good bigs that can rebound. So far, I think they're somewhere around .500 so it's working out for them. Paul George, if he's happy and playing well then it works."
Kevin Love saw promising signs on the other side as well, some that make him believe Indiana could reclaim its position in the East.
"They're very well coached and they're long too," Love said. "It was their three or four bigs that they threw in there throughout. Paul George is a great player. They're definitely a team that always plays physical, always brings it and they're not fully healthy either. They're a team that can bring it and give us a tough game."
The Cavs' schedule looked challenging before the year began, but in the first seven games, they've beaten one team (Miami) that currently has a record above .500. Don't try telling that to Cavs head coach David Blatt.
"Indiana's going to be around this year, I can tell you that," he said. "They're a good team, Paul is healthy, they're well coached and they're a team that's for real. We had a good win tonight. With all of the difficulties and with everything else that's going around, we came and we played a good solid game, which is what we needed to do to win that game."
Kevin Love's turnaround - Love's first half followed the script of his rough week. He was off the mark, looking uncomfortable and showing frustration. In the first half against Indiana, Love scored three points on 1-of-6 shooting, including 1-of-4 from three-point range.
Then came a halftime pick-me-up courtesy of James.
"LeBron talked to me at halftime and just got me going," Love said. "That's all it was. I mentioned to him that I kind of wanted to free flow and get myself near the basket and that's what I did."
The speech helped, but Love's approach was more important. Instead of floating around the three-point line -- 10 of his 16 shot attempts were beyond the arc against Philadelphia on Friday and four of six were from distance in the first half Sunday -- Love went inside.
"I think I'm getting a lot of different looks," Love said. "I don't know if that's a product of Shump and Kyrie being out but from a comfort standpoint and looking at what the offense breaks down as so far just getting near the basket is a lot better for me. I wanted to get myself near the basket more and mix it up."
The change in approach was highlighted at the end of the game. Love made a back-door cut, James found him near the hoop and Love made the basket for a five-point lead with 27 seconds remaining.
Love was 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter, with four of those baskets coming in the paint. Three of his third quarter baskets came from close range as well.
"Kev wants to work in and out, not out and in," James said. "We have to do a great job of always seeing that and doing that to better his play. I noticed it and I wanted to do my part."
Love finished with 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 8-of-12 following James' halftime speech. He also grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds, completing an impressive turnaround that might not have happened last season as he was searching for comfort in a new role.
"It's very high," Love said of his comfort. "I wouldn't say that my rhythm is quite where I want it to be. I'm getting a lot of great looks where I want to be and just trying to attack the glass more. I feel a lot better."
Added Blatt: "The guys really picked him up and I thought that Kevin responded beautifully and gave us a tremendous second half. Tremendous."
Three-Mo Mozgov - All that hard work -- post-practice shooting sessions and before-game three-point hoists -- finally paid dividends for Cavs big man Timofey Mozgov.
In the second quarter against Indiana, Mozgov was standing all alone in the corner beyond the three-point line. That's when Matthew Dellavedova whipped a pass to Mozgov's not-always-reliable hands. He caught the ball and didn't hesitate. He stepped into the shot with confidence and buried it, his first triple of the season and seventh of his career.
"Timo has been telling me now for almost a year that he is a three-point shooter," Blatt said. "I don't think he remembers Bill Laimbeer, but I think he thinks he's Bill Laimbeer, secretly. When I had him on the Russian National Team, he never, ever thought to shoot a three-point shot, let alone tell the coach that he was a three-point shooter. Isn't it interesting how people change when they find themselves in a different environment?
"Timo's been telling me that he's a three-point shooter. I've been telling him, 'Timo, if you make the first one, you can take another one, but if you miss it, you can't.' Well, he made the first one, so he got a second look and, fortunately, he didn't go beyond that. He was smart. He didn't get greedy. Took one, missed one, that's it. Now we start all over again. The funny thing actually, he can shoot the shot."
Mozgov left the locker room with a smile on his face before reporters could enter and talk about his shining moment during an otherwise shaky performance. But Cavs assistant Phil Handy grabbed him in the hallway for a chat and jokingly told Mozgov that was his only three this season.
That's debatable.
Mozgov's made triple, from the same spot on the floor that he missed against Memphis, wasn't surprising to teammates, who see Mozgov put in the work to extend his game beyond the three-point line. James Jones raved about Mozgov's smooth shooting form and Thompson has seen the same.
"He's been practicing," Thompson said. "After practice and in warmups so I knew he was going to make one sooner or later."
Mozgov is 7-of-34 in his career.
Pro Mo - The box score shows 4-of-15 shooting and 2-of-5 from three-point range, one of Mo Williams' toughest shooting nights since re-joining the Cavs.
But since being named starting lead guard during Kyrie Irving's absence, it's clear Williams' value goes beyond the box score.
"Mo has been great from day one in terms of his professionalism, his on-court leadership and his play," Blatt said. "He's been playing terrific basketball. He's just really been playing at a great level for us. He's very comfortable on this team and works so well with LeBron and, obviously, he's comfortable in The Q. He's been a real gift to us, the fact that he's playing for us and he's going to be with us going forward, because we wouldn't be 6-1 right now without Mo Williams."
Williams' best attribute is his playmaking ability. He had eight assists against two turnovers and was able to get into the paint, causing rotation issues for the Pacers. He also buried a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter while James was resting. His triple helped ignite an 8-2 run.
"Makes shots, makes some tough shots," Thompson said. "Him being a veteran and him playing with certain guys on the team before and having that chemistry as well as connection with the new guys, he's been great for us. With Kyrie down he has definitely answered the call and been our lead guard and made big plays for us."
Shortened bench - One game after being critical of his bench, Blatt shortened his rotation, electing to play seven players for the majority of the game. Cunningham, the eighth guy, got just nine minutes.
"I just felt that's what we had to do in this game to win the game," Blatt said. "It's not a far-reaching plan. It's not something that we're looking to do on a game-to-game basis. I just felt that's what we had to do in order to win this game and, fortunately, it worked."
That led to a question about James' minutes. Questionable going into the game, James logged 35 minutes, the third-highest total on Sunday.
"He's unbelievable," Blatt said. "Most guys probably don't play with what he had and he played and you saw how he played. What can I tell you? The guy is unbelievable. He really is. I don't have a better word."
The bench rotation will go back to normal, probably as early as Tuesday against Utah. But Anderson Varejao didn't see the court against Indiana. He's played 16 minutes in the last four games and averaging 7.8 on the season. It's something to monitor.
