National Basketball Association
Indiana 111, Cleveland 102
When: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, May 10, 2021
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Officials: #56 Mark Ayotte, #83 Andy Nagy, #45 Brian Forte
Attendance: 4148

Kelan Martin scored a career-high 25 points off the bench to lead the short-handed Indiana Pacers to a 111-102 victory over the host Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.

Indiana (32-36) moved back into ninth place in the Eastern Conference and a half-game ahead of the Washington Wizards as the teams vie for home court advantage in a potential play-in tournament matchup between them.

The Pacers also moved three games ahead of the idle Chicago Bulls with four games to play as they moved closer to clinching a berth in the play-in round.

The Cavaliers (21-48) lost their 11th straight game, the NBA's worst active streak, despite Collin Sexton's 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds. But 19 of Sexton's points came in the first half as Indiana took the lead for good after outscoring the Cavaliers 26-17 in the third quarter.

Martin shot 11-for-16 from the field including 3-for-4 from 3-point range, and collected seven rebounds as the Pacers, who were again without Malcolm Brogdon (sore hamstring), Jeremy Lamb (sore knee) and JaKarr Sampson (concussion) picked up 47 points from their bench.

Domantas Sabonis came up just short of his ninth triple-double of the season by finishing with 21 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists as well as four blocks. Caris LeVert totaled 20 points and 10 assists.

Martin's layup with 1:44 to go in the fourth put the Pacers ahead 105-95, giving them enough of a cushion to hang on for the win.

T.J. McConnell, who had 10 points, also came up with a key score in transition with 42.3 seconds left to keep it a two-or-more possession game down the stretch.

Doug McDermott added 13 points and Justin Holiday had 11 points.

Isaac Okoro (22 points and 10 rebounds) and Dean Wade (19 points and 12 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles for the Cavaliers.

Jarrett Allen finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Cavaliers had only nine players available as Kevin Love sat out as part of his injury management of a right calf strain and Darius Garland missed his sixth game in a row with a left ankle sprain.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Indiana   Cleveland
Kelan Martin 25 Scoring Collin Sexton 25
Caris LeVert 10 Assists Collin Sexton 8
Domantas Sabonis 20 Rebounds Dean Wade 12
Domantas Sabonis 4 Free Throws Made Collin Sexton 10
Aaron Holiday 2 Steals Dean Wade 3
Domantas Sabonis 4 Blocks Jarrett Allen 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Indiana 111 50.0 11-27 12-16 32 47 13 7 11
Cleveland 102 35.5 13-39 23-30 21 50 2 8 12
Upcoming Games
  • Cleveland will play their next game at home against Boston. The Cavaliers have a W/L % of .381 after a win and .271 after a loss.
  • Indiana will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Pacers have a W/L % of .387 after a win and .541 after a loss.