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Cavs welcome Pacers to Cleveland

Mar 20, 2015 - 2:24 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers will meet Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena in what could be a playoff preview.

The Cavaliers are second in the Eastern Conference - two games ahead of Toronto - and Indiana sits even with Boston for the eighth seed. The Pacers are one game behind Miami and just a half-game ahead of Charlotte.

Cleveland is coming off a 117-92 blowout of the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, as J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov led seven players in double figures with 17 points apiece. LeBron James had 16 points and seven assists, while Kyrie Irving added 12 points and 10 assists.

Kevin Love returned from a two-game absence for rest and contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot 54.9 percent and made 15-of-29 from beyond the arc. Smith sank 5-of-10 3-pointers.

The Cavaliers have won five of six and 11 of their last 15 games, and were coming off a four-game road trip (3-1) in Texas and Florida.

"The first game after a road trip is always kind of tough," James said. "We just found our rhythm."

After the Cavaliers host Indiana, they will play three in a row on the road against Milwaukee, Memphis and Brooklyn.

Indiana has lost three in a row after winning seven straight and dropped a 103-86 decision at Chicago on Wednesday.

Solomon Hill scored 13 points, Roy Hibbert had 12 and Rodney Stuckey finished with 11 for the Pacers, who made only 39.5 percent and were outrebounded by a lopsided 52-38 margin.

"They just played a better basketball game," said Pacers coach Frank Vogel.

The Pacers have a 12-21 road record and will play their next two games at home versus Brooklyn and Houston.

Indiana has won two of three matchups with Cleveland this season and is a dominant 17-3 in the past 20 games between the Central foes.