CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 23 of his 38 points in the second half, James Harden had 28 points and seven assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the injury-plagued Indiana Pacers 117-108 on Sunday night.
Thomas Bryant added 14 points and 10 rebounds in his first start of the season for Cleveland, which didn’t take its initial lead until the third quarter. It went ahead for good early in the fourth at 99-96 on Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s 3-pointer, eventually going up by 15.
The playoff-bound Cavaliers (49-29) reduced their magic number for home-court advantage in the first round to one, despite resting their starting frontcourt of Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Sam Merrill. Mitchell made 16 of 27 shots and had six rebounds and six assists in 33 minutes.
Fourth-place Cleveland is four games ahead of Atlanta in the Eastern Conference with four to play. It hosts the Hawks on Wednesday night, then plays at Atlanta on Friday night.
Obi Toppin scored a season-high 21 points with eight rebounds, and Micah Potter had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers (18-60). Two-way forward Jalen Slawson scored a career-best 19 points.
Indiana only had nine players in uniform — and was missing its top five scorers — after losing All-Star forward Pascal Siakam (left ankle sprain) and guard Ben Sheppard (right hip sprain) to injuries in its previous game Friday at Charlotte.
The Pacers have the second-worst record in the NBA, one game in front of Washington.
Slawson scored 14 points and had four 3-pointers as the Pacers built a 47-35 advantage early in the second. Indiana made eight threes in the first half.
Indiana carried a 58-55 lead into the break as Potter had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Harden scored 19 and Mitchell had 15 points for the Cavaliers.
Up next
Pacers: Host Minnesota on Tuesday night.
Cavaliers: At Memphis on Monday night.
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