Cavaliers fall flat in Turkey Day test

The Pacers snapped Cleveland's winning streak.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Cleveland Cavaliers' Thanksgiving mission was to find out just where they are in the NBA realm.
The answer in Conseco Fieldhouse was resounding: "Not there yet."
Facing a stiff divisional road test, the Cavs played tight while the Indiana Pacers played tough in putting an abrupt, 98-76 end to their guests' eight-game winning streak.
Despite their lofty record and hot streak, the Cavs (9-3) really don't have a true statement win over a title contender as yet.
Indeed, they weren't favored to get it against the Pacers (7-3), but they sure hoped to put up a better fight.
"We got our behinds kicked," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "Indiana is one of the teams to beat in the East and they took it to us."
James affected
There wasn't a single player wearing wine and gold who could feel good about his performance Thursday, especially the team's three stars.
LeBron James had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, numbers that aren't bad, but they don't show just how much Indiana disrupted his game. He went just 6-of-20 from the floor and turned it over six times.
Larry Hughes was unable to pick up the slack, scoring only 13 points with just a single rebound and a single assist.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas was in foul trouble all game and had his worst night of the season with just four points.
The only Cav to be near his game was Drew Gooden, who had 16 points and seven rebounds.
Simple and effective
The Pacers' strategy was as simple as it was effective. Not awed by the Cavs' dazzling and league-best 105-point average, they knew from film and scouts that the Cavs aren't yet running smoothly in half-court sets. So they made it a half-court game, taking their time all the way.
With Ron Artest, who scored 21 points, setting the tone by making it tough on James to even breathe, the Pacers played wonderful team defense. They tried to deny passes to James and then packed the middle to make sure any Cav who came in faced a crowd.
It was the best defense the Cavs have seen since losing in San Antonio 10 games ago, and they never figured it out. They made just six of their first 29 shots, which took them out of the game early.
James missed his first eight shots, and Hughes wasn't much better.
Slow start
In the previous two games, Hughes and James had combined for 134 points. Thursday, they didn't get their first basket until a Hughes hoop with six minutes left in the first half. James didn't make a shot for another five minutes after that.
In all, the Cavs shot just 38 percent, their worst since the last time they faced a title contender, those Spurs.
And they also had a season-low 10 assists.
On offense, the Pacers routinely beat the Cavs with great ball movement. They worked to get open 3-pointers, of which they made 11-of-18. Sarunas Jasikevicius made 5-of-6 and scored a career-high 17 points.
"We're not a great team yet; we're a good team not a great one," James said. "We're still learning."
In fairness, that is a refrain the Cavs maintained all the way through their winning streak. They just hope there comes a time this season when it isn't so obvious in such a key game.
"We still have a long way to go," Brown said.
"We haven't done anything yet."
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.