Cavs fade, rally, lead series 2-0

CLEVELAND — Kyrie Irving scored 37 points, Kevin Love added 27 and the Cleveland Cavaliers avoided another fourth-quarter collapse in Game 2, beating the Indiana Pacers 117-111 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series.

After squeaking out the opener by a point, LeBron James and Co. showed more intensity on defense, more swagger in general and won their 10th consecutive firstround game over the past three seasons.

However, they nearly blew an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Pacers got within four before Cleveland closed it out at the line.

James added 10 rebounds and seven assists, but had eight of Cleveland’s 19 turnovers.

Game 3 is Thursday night.

Paul George scored 32 and Jeff Teague 23 for Indiana, which showed more fight, but now has a steep hill to climb to get back in the series. Cleveland is 12-0 when starting 2-0 in the postseason.

The Cavs vowed they would play better after their near-disaster in Game 1 and they backed up their talk, delivering the kind of performance that was routine last season but very rare in 2017.

“We’re right there,” he said. “We’re really close to what we can become.”

Love scored 10 consecutive points and drew a charging foul on Lance Stephenson in a span of two minutes as the Cavs opened an 89-70 lead. Irving closed the quarter by hitting a three-pointer over Stephenson and the All-Star made sure Indiana’s antagonizing guard knew about it, yapping in his direction long after the horn sounded.

“We’re right there,” Pacers Coach Nate McMillan said. “We’re really close to what we can become.”

The Cavs still led 109-91 with 6:09 left, but the Pacers ripped off 13 consecutive points and were within 113-109 when George hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds left.

It continued a disturbing trend for the Cavs, who have been giving up late, big leads with regularity.

The other hitch for Cleveland was that starting guard J.R. Smith didn’t play in the second half because of a left hamstring injury. Iman Shumpert, who sat out the series opener, replaced Smith and played 20 solid minutes.

Despite losing the opener, McMillian insisted his team hadn’t lost any confidence.

“We believe,” he said. “We came in believing. We still believe.”

AP/TONY DEJAK Cleveland forward LeBron James (left) looks to pass around Indiana defender Myles Turner as the Cavaliers’ held on late to beat the Pacers 117-111 in Game 2 of their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series Monday.

AP/TONY DEJAK Indiana guard Paul George (right) had 32 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists Monday, but the Pacers came up short again against Cleveland and trail their best-of-7 series 2-0.