Re: Cleveland @ Indiana
Discombobulated Pacers ripe for Cavs
Victory would ensure important playoff tiebreaker
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal
sportswriter
INDIANAPOLIS - The talk of the NBA is how the Indiana Pacers will react after finally shedding Ron Artest in a blockbuster swap with the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojakovic.
The Cavaliers will never know.
Stojakovic intends to take the permitted 48 hours to report to the Pacers after Wednesday night's trade, which means that he won't make his Indiana debut against the Cavs tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Pacers also will be without All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal, who stands to miss up to two months after tearing his left groin muscle against the Cavs on Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
It leaves the Cavs with a golden chance in their final meeting of the season with the Pacers. A victory over the wounded and shaken team, which is in the middle of a four-game losing streak and is still reeling from a 30-point loss to the Cavs earlier this week, would give the Cavs a 3-1 victory in the season series.
Not only would it be an emotional boost -- the Cavs haven't won a series from the Pacers since 1996-97 -- but it also would give them a potentially important tiebreaker. Currently gripping the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs have the series advantage on the three teams on their heels, the Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks.
If fans don't think tiebreakers matter, just refer to the past two seasons when the Cavs finished one game out of the playoffs because of tiebreaker losses.
Still, the Cavs, winners of three consecutive games, after winning Wednesday in Atlanta, are figuring they will be tested with some pride at stake after they embarrassed the usually proud Pacers earlier this week.
``It is going to be a tougher game because it's at their place,'' forward Donyell Marshall said. ``Regardless of the trade, it was going to be tougher.''
Especially considering the two sides don't exactly like each other. There were seven technical fouls called and a brief on-court scuffle Wednesday and lots of trash-talking, as well. It started when Cavs guard Sasha Pavlovic elbowed Stephen Jackson in the face, and David Harrison returned it with a sharp pick in Pavlovic's back on the next possession.
Frustrated and on the wrong end of the breaks recently, the Pacers might come out looking to get physical in front of their fans.
``That's all right with me, it doesn't bother me at all,'' Pavlovic said. ``All it does is make me play better.''
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