Lue: Now James needs help for Game 3

The Cavaliers narrowly survived a late rally by the Pacers on April 18 at a noisy Quicken Loans Arena, and now they will try taking the series lead on April 20 in Indianapolis with crazed Pacers fans making the same kind of noise for their own team.

If the first two games in the best-of-seven series are an indication of what to expect in Game 3, the team that jumps out quickly will prevail. The Pacers led Game 1, 25-8, in the first quarter at The Q, took the crowd out of it early, and won, 98-80.

The Cavaliers led Game 2, 13-0, and the Pacers spent the rest of the night trying to catch up. They almost did, but the Cavs hung on and won, 100-97.

“We have some work to do,” LeBron James said after Game 2. “Tomorrow we’re going to watch the film, break it down, see ways we can be better in Indiana where we know it’s going to be a hostile environment.”

James scored 46 points in Game 2. Heading into the

game, coach Tyronn Lue said he wanted his superstar to be more assertive. He probably wasn’t thinking 46 points assertive, though.

James played so well that his teammates stood around watching just as the fans who were sitting watched.

Starting guard J.R. Smith played 35 minutes, took only five shots and scored five points. The Cavs got only 16 points from their bench — five each from Jose Calderon and Rodney Hood, plus two each from Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson and Jeff Green.

Nance had five rebounds. The rest of the bench had two.

The bench bunch combined for five assists.

“I need to see more out of a lot of guys,” Lue said in his postgame news conference, with no need to elaborate.

Lue is expected to go with the same starting lineup he used in Game 2 — George Hill and Smith along with Kyle Korver, James and Kevin Love. That’s if Love can play. Just as the health of the Cavaliers seemed to no longer be a concern, Love suffered a partially torn ligament in his left thumb breaking up a pass with less than four minutes left in Game 2. Despite the injury, Love expects to play in Game 3.

The Cavs are still trying to find someone to take up the slack for Kyrie Irving, the guard traded to Boston in August. They can’t afford to go into Indianapolis without Love, especially if the others stand around and watch James as they did in Game 2.

“I saw a replay (of the injury), and it didn’t look good,” Love said at his locker after the game. “It’s not going to feel great tomorrow (April 19), but throw some ice on it, tape it up and be ready to go.”

Love scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in Game 2. He scored nine points and had 17 rebounds in Game 1.