CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love was sidelined with a sore foot for Saturday night’s 119-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The defeat sent Cleveland to 0-6 on the season, their worst start since losing their first seven games in 1995.
Love, who leads the team scoring 19 points a game, also missed Thursday’s game against Detroit. Love missed three of the Cavaliers’ four exhibition games because of the injury, and it’s uncertain when he’ll return.
“He tried to play through it understanding we hadn’t won a game and we were struggling a little bit,” Lue said. “He wanted to be on the floor and try to make a difference. We applaud him for that. We just hope he can get healthy soon.”
The Cavaliers are struggling to adjust without LeBron James, who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency.
Cleveland committed 18 turnovers that led to 30 points and helped Indiana shoot 65 percent (48 for 74) from the field.
“Our margin for error is slim,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “It’s very slim.”
Cleveland cut a 15-point lead to 97-91 early in the fourth quarter before Indiana regained control with four straight baskets. Darren Collison scored on a layup and a jumper, Oladipo hit a 12-footer and Domanta Sabonis scored in the lane.
Sabonis made another layup and Oladipo’s 3-pointer with 3:58 left pushed the lead to 113-98.
The Pacers handled the Cavaliers to improve to 4-2 on Saturday night.
Indiana (4-2) placed six players in double figures. Collison, Myles Turner and Sabonis each scored 15 points while Thaddeus Young added 10.
“We didn’t want to make it a trap game,” Collison said. “Every team in the NBA is respectable, regardless of who is out there. They played as hard as we did tonight.”
Rodney Hood led Cleveland with 17 points while Larry Nance Jr. came off the bench to score 15.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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