CLEVELAND — Andrew Nembhard scored 19 points, Pascal Siakam had 18 points and nine rebounds and the Indiana Pacers ended NBA-leading Cleveland’s winning streak at 12 games, defeating the Cavaliers 108-93 on Sunday night.
The teams will complete the home-and-home set Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
Myles Turner added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Jarace Walker had eight points and 12 rebounds off the bench to help Indiana win its sixth straight. The Pacers held the Cavaliers to a season low in points and outscored them 68-40 in the second half.
“There was nothing to lose, this is the best team in the league right now,” Nembhard said of the Cavaliers during his postgame, on-court interview on the FanDuel Sports Network. “We had to play hard, play together, and put some more physicality in the game on the defensive side of the ball, and play off of that.”
Cleveland lost for the first time since Dec. 8 at Miami. It is 33-5 overall and 20-2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Darius Garland had 20 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Evan Mobley had 16 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.
“We were connected (on defense),” Nembhard said. “We didn’t fool around, even when we made mistakes, we helped out each other, and just made the next play.”
The win came at a cost for the Pacers, as All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who has appeared in all 40 games and is averaging team highs of 8.9 assists and 35.0 minutes, sat out the second half after experiencing left hamstring tightness. He had two points and five assists.
With a rematch on tap in two days, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle raved about Cleveland’s depth and style under new coach Kenny Atkinson, saying, “They don’t have any weaknesses. I mean, you can’t find any. All of their guys can score and those guys play defense, too.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.