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  Friday, Dec. 10 7:00pm ET
Pacers pound Cavs by 48
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- For the first 16 minutes, the Indiana Pacers were incredible. After that, merely awesome.

Rik Smits scored 16 of his 25 points in a near-perfect first quarter, and Jalen Rose added 23 points as the Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 136-88 Friday night for their fifth straight victory.

Jalen Rose
Jalen Rose goes up for 2 of his 23 points Friday.

"It was just one of those days when everything goes right," Smits said. "They had a tough time hitting shots. But it's happened to us the other way, too. You can't put your finger on it, we just got off to a good start right from the beginning."

Dale Davis added 18 points and 20 rebounds, and the final margin of 48 points was the Pacers' largest ever against the Cavaliers, topping a 36-point win in 1981.

Smits, 9-for-10 from the field, hit all six of his shots and four of five free throws in the opening period. His teammates weren't far off that pace, either, missing only four shots from the field for a 42-25 lead.

"I don't know if we could have played any better," Pacers coach Larry Bird said. "It seemed like we built the lead pretty quick. Everybody played a great game, and it's because they gave the effort."

Travis Best, who finished with 15 points, hit the first two baskets of the second period to complete a 15-1 Indiana run. Baskets by Al Harrington and Davis and a free throw by Harrington pushed the Pacers' lead to 52-31 before their first miss of the second quarter, by Sam Perkins eight minutes before halftime.

Indiana built the lead to 69-48 at the half and used another 12-2 run to take a 106-65 lead after three quarters. Rookie Jonathan Bender, activated off the injury list earlier in the week, made his NBA debut late in the third quarter and had 10 points in 13 minutes, including a layup and free throw that pushed Indiana's lead to 47 points early in the fourth.

The Pacers' biggest lead was 50 points -- 122-72 -- on a basket by Chris Mullin with 8:16 to go, and Cleveland came no closer than 43 the rest of the way.

"Fifty points, that's pretty amazing," Smits said. "But, hey, it's a win. We can't relax, we can't let up, we can't get soft."

Wesley Person led the Cavaliers with 13 points, and Andrew DeClercq added 12.

"Well, mom said there would be days like this," said first-year Cavs coach Randy Wittman, an Indianapolis native and former Pacers player and assistant coach. "I just hope this doesn't come much more. We just have to grin and bear it and move on.

"In the first quarter, they set the tone where they couldn't miss a shot. They hit everything and it just turned into a snowball effect. ... We got frustrated because everything went in (for Indiana)," Wittman said.

Despite the Pacers' hot shooting, early turnovers let the Cavaliers stay close until midway through the first quarter. Reggie Miller, who had 13 points, hit two free throws, Rose scored on a fast break and Smits pushed the lead to 26-19 with a three-point play.

Smits left the game with his second foul late in the opening period and did not return until 4:56 to go in the second quarter. By that time, the Pacers' lead was 22 points and the Cavaliers never recovered.

"When we got down 22, we wanted to make a run, but at the beginning of the second quarter they beat us to it," Person said. "They were playing their game and playing unselfishly. I don't think they were running up the score, they were just playing their game."

Game notes
Wittman was an All-State player at Indianapolis Ben Davis High School and played on Indiana's 1981 NCAA championship team. ... The Pacers' last five-game winning streak came with an 81-74 win over Cleveland last February. ... The Cavs' Brevin Knight caught an elbow to the eye and lay on the floor several minutes late in the second quarter but was back for the start of the second half. Mark Bryant, diagnosed with a mild right quad tendon strain after an MRI on Thursday, did not dress for the game. ... Smits had his left shoulder wrapped after the game because of strained ligaments. The injury was not believed to be serious. ... The Pacers' 42 points in the first quarter, 69 points in the first half and 136 points for the game were season highs. ... Cleveland's 33.7 field goal percentage was the lowest by an Indiana opponent this season.
 


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RECAPS
Boston 100
Houston 96

Indiana 136
Cleveland 88

Milwaukee 107
Toronto 91

Golden State 107
Atlanta 99

Charlotte 106
Denver 99

Detroit 107
LA Clippers 83

New York 85
Philadelphia 78

Chicago 71
New Jersey 69

Utah 101
Seattle 83

Miami 107
Sacramento 97