Cleveland Cavaliers takeaways: Indiana Pacers are who Cavs want to be

The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped their first preseason game of the year with a 111-102 loss against the Indiana Pacers. The final score isn’t indicative of how close the game actually was as the Pacers led by as much as 24 in what was essentially a blowout.

The Cleveland Cavaliers started this one without their two best scorers in Kevin Love and Rodney Hood and the offense struggled as a result. The Cavs had a tough time getting anything going offensively in the halfcourt and things got even worse when Cedi Osman left the game after seven minutes.

Collin Sexton struggled for the first time this preseason as he had a tough time finding his shot. He finished with just three points on one-of-seven shooting with three assists and three turnovers. From a glass half-full perspective, his defense was pretty solid, though.

Against a great defensive team like Indiana, this past game could qualify as a “lesson” for Sexton and the Cleveland Cavaliers in general (a la head coach Tyronn Lue). Clearly, this team is not the same without Hood, Love and Jordan Clarkson‘s scoring potential.

Sam Dekker had 10 points, but that was while going 3-of-12 from the field in 32 minutes. He had a plus-minus of -13, and the Love-less starters had a rough go of it. The bench was better, and with the perimeter shooting especially.

Kyle Korver was the one Cavalier in the regular rotation who did not have a tough time finding his shot. He finished with 17 points on four-of-seven shooting from distance.

Korver would end the game six-of-ten from the field in total, and he added a block. In 20 minutes, he had a plus-minus of +4.

Here’s what we learned from this preseason loss.