Paul George: Paul George scores 29 points in loss to Cavs

But Playoff Lance returned in full force for the Pacers on Saturday, and he was a difference maker in what was ultimately a 109-108 loss for Indy.

3-Point Goals-Indiana 11-24 (George 6-8, Teague 2-5, Brooks 1-2, Ellis 1-3, Miles 1-3, T.Young 0-1, Stephenson 0-2), Cleveland 11-28 (Frye 3-4, James 2-3, Love 2-6, R.Jefferson 1-1, Dero.Williams 1-2, Smith 1-3, Irving 1-9).

When leading any series 1-0, the Cavaliers have gone on to win 15 of 16 playoff series.

Game 2 of the series is in Cleveland on Monday. He is also essential to the Pacers if they are going to have any chance of competing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. The Spurs' Manu Ginobili played the second half of Game 1 after getting a small cut under his left eye late in the first half.

Stephenson had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in Game 1, and in was +7 in the almost 27 minutes he was on the floor.

Irving was asked if the overall output in Game 1, which shared some common themes with the Cavs' disturbing finish to the regular season in terms of shoddy defense and failure to protect a lead, left him and his teammates feeling vulnerable.

It's a tendency the Cavaliers carried into the postseason, no matter how much they'd like to swear it off.

"He missed", James said.

George finished with 29 points for the Pacers. It was the media who wanted to revisit not only the C.J. Miles miss, but some of the post-game comments when Paul George seemed less than charitable toward his teammates.

Jazz star center Rudy Gobert went down clutching his left knee less than 20 seconds into the contest after bumping knees with Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute.

After the game, George chided the decision, saying, "I talked to CJ about it".

"I'm happy we got the victory", James said. That's not the issue.

Miles didn't make any excuses. "LeBron was able to get into the paint and score on some of those occasions, but it allowed us to get back into this game and eventually have a chance to win".

"I'm confident with all my guys taking shots", George said. "We missed 13 free throws, turned the ball over [11 times] and they got 19 points [off those mistakes]".

Kyrie Irving added 23 points for the Cavaliers, who won their 12th successive playoff game on home court.

Paul George wanted to take the final shot on Saturday when the Indiana Pacers fell short against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of their first-round playoff matchup.

Cleveland had several bad possessions down the stretch and the Cavs went only 14 of 27 from the free-throw line. It's too soon to say whether they have their act together, but for three quarters they looked more like a team capable of reaching its third straight Finals.

"Hell, no", he snapped.

The story of the game may still be LeBron's big night or Kyrie's poor shooting, or both of them struggling in the 4th quarter, but my game ball goes to the bench.

But, as usual, the Pacers couldn't contain James, who improved to 45-7 in the opening round and got the Cavs their first win — warts and all.

Game 2 will not come down to a last-second shot if the Cavaliers listen to Coach Tyronn Lue. I think [Paul] made the right play.

PG said he spoke to Miles and told him he needs to take that last shot, according to Scott Sargent at Waiting For Next Year. As often as you'll see one team exploit a certain matchup through an entire series, you'll see wild swings from game to game that completely destroy the best laid plans of even the most tactically inclined coaches.

In Toronto, Malcolm Brogdon delivered 16 points for the Bucks, Greg Monroe finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, Tony Snell and Matthew Dellavedova added 11 points each for Milwaukee.

He rejoined the Pacers on March 30 and was pivotal in them going 5-1 to make the playoffs. Indiana G Jeff Teague has no limitations from rolling his ankle in Wednesday's regular-season finale.