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Pacers hand Cavs 22nd straight defeat

Feb 3, 2011 - 5:20 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Danny Granger scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Indiana edged Cleveland, 117-112, at Quicken Loans Arena, sending the Cavaliers to their 22nd consecutive loss.

Darren Collison contributed 22 points and nine assists while Mike Dunleavy scored 15 for Indiana, which is 2-0 under interim head coach Frank Vogel.

"It was a huge win," Vogel said. "It came down to balance. We had six guys in double-figures and the seventh guy (Josh McRoberts) helped in so many ways that are not in the points column."

Ramon Sessions led the Cavaliers with a game-high 25 points and added nine assists. Antawn Jamison had 21 points and seven rebounds while rookie Manny Harris scored 19 with eight boards for Cleveland, which has lost five straight in this rivalry.

The Cavaliers are now one game away from tying the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies and 1997-98 Denver Nuggets for the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.

Trailing 89-87 entering the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers opened the final stanza with two Harris free throws. The teams traded the lead down the stretch, but it was a 110-110 contest after Jamison's floating jumper with 1:23 remaining.

Collison responded with a long three-pointer on the next possession, but Christian Eyenga's short jumper after a Cleveland timeout made it a one-point game just inside the final minute.

After Granger missed a three and Anthony Parker's running jumper was off- target, the Cavaliers were forced to send Granger to the line with 17.1 seconds remaining. He made both to put Indiana up 115-112.

Following another Cleveland timeout, J.J. Hickson committed a costly turnover with 11.9 ticks remaining, and Granger connected on another pair from the line to account for the final margin.

"The balls were just bounding in their direction," Sessions said of the Cavaliers' rebounding issues. "Their guys were crashing the boards and it helped them."

Jamison and Parker both missed a basket in the final 10 seconds as the Cavaliers continued their lowly march toward NBA futility.

The Pacers opened the game with a 12-0 run, the Cavaliers didn't get on the board until Sessions made two free throws with just over 8 1/2 remaining in the first. Cleveland's offense recovered somewhat, and the Cavaliers trailed by a 35-25 score after the opening 12 minutes.

Indiana widened its lead to 17 in the second quarter, but Harris supplied 10 points to pace the Cavaliers as they pulled within 59-54 at the break. Jamison led the way with 10 points in the third quarter, trimming the Pacers' lead to two entering the final stanza.

Game Notes

The Cavaliers will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday...Cleveland is 5-16 at home this season...Parker finished with 17 points while Eyenga and Hickson added 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the loss...Sessions was 13-of-14 from the line...Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and Paul George each scored 13 points for the Pacers.