George scores 31 points as Pacers beat Bron-less Cavs 103-93

The Pacers beat the LeBron-less Cavaliers 103-92 to improve to 3-1 at home in the past two years when James sits.

“I found out when Coach (Nate McMillan) came in and said, `LeBron’s not playing,” said Pacers point guard Jeff Teague, who had 20 points and eight assists. “I didn’t know, but we needed a win. We weren’t worried about who was playing or who was going to be on the floor, we were just going to go out and compete.”

Jeff Teague added 20 points and eight assists, and Thaddeus Young had 16 points to help the Pacers improve to 6-1 at home and 6-6 overall.

James sat out for the first time this season. Averaging 23.4 points and 8.9 rebounds, he rested after playing Tuesday night in a home victory over Toronto. Guard J.R. Smith also missed the game because of a sprained right ankle.

“It doesn’t matter about LeBron not playing,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We just lost the game.”

Kevin Love led Cleveland with 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving had 24 points and seven assists. The Cavaliers dropped to 9-2 after matching the best start in franchise history with the victory over Toronto on Tuesday night.

“We had our chances,” Love said. “We cut the lead to four or five a couple times, and it just felt like we either had a bad possession, had a turnover, and then that lead went to eight or nine points, having to fight kind of uphill to claw back and try to win the game, and it was too little too late.”

Indiana led 80-68 lead after three quarters. The Cavaliers cut it to four points midway through the fourth, but the Pacers put it away with a 9-2 run. C.J. Miles hit a 3-pointer for the game’s largest lead — 97-84 with 5:10 remaining.

“Of course it’s different,” Miles said about facing the Cavaliers without James. “We’re talking about him still and he didn’t even play tonight. He’s arguably the best player in our game. (But) we can’t disrespect anybody. They’ve got guys who can play basketball.”